CNN Contributor Calls Confederate Soldiers Terrorists

In recent telecasts and on the CNN website, CNN contributor Roland Martin has repeatedly called Confederate Soldiers from the Civil War terrorists. In an online column yesterday, he defended his actions.

First, it is just as divisive of Mr. Martin to refer to them as terrorists as he claims that the Virginia Governor was in honoring the Confederate Veterans this month and leaving out any mention of slavery. Mr. Martin certainly understands that he lobbed a hand grenade into an ammo dump when he made his comments. There is no doubt in my mind that he knew he was being inflammatory. Second, Mr. Martin uses faulty reasoning to come to his conclusion that the Civil War Confederate soldiers were terrorists.

Mr. Martin states that Confederate Soldiers served with the "desire to continue slavery." That is inaccurate. Many average soldiers did not own slaves. Additionally, if left to some Confederate generals, they would have begun the war after freeing the slaves in the Confederacy. Just as the Confederates' primary war aim was not to keep slavery intact, neither was the war aim of the Union to free the slaves. There was still slavery in the Union during the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation freed no slaves in the North! Although slavery was a contributing factor in the war, it was only one of the contributing factors.

"If a Confederate soldier was merely doing his job in defending his homeland, honor and heritage, what are we to say about young Muslim radicals who say the exact same thing as their rationale for strapping bombs on their bodies and blowing up cafes and buildings?"

There is a big difference between a Confederate Soldier serving as part of an organized Army subject to government control and a terrorist who straps a bomb to his body and blows up cafes and buildings. With notable exceptions, the Civil War was fought by one Army against another Army. Confederate Soldiers did not attack and kill civilians, they fought against the Union Army in a declared war. If terrorism is defined as the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes and a terrorist is defined as a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism then using Mr. Martin's logic, could you not label the Union Army during Sherman's "March to the Sea" as terrorists? Using his logic, where do you draw the line between soldier and terrorist?

Mac McCormick III