eader that, whatever we might make of his "Sirhan look-alike," there's a better resemblance to Sirhan in the person of Michael Wayne. But maybe Mr. Ayton is unaware of that, as he may not have done much research on Michael Wayne.
In an article of 40 paragraphs it is noticeable how often Mr. Ayton makes reference to "conspiracy advocates" or some variation thereof:
"...claims by conspiracy advocates...."
"Conspiracy advocates have promoted the idea....They claim...."
"Author's Note: Conspiracy advocate Philip Melanson said...."
"In building their conspiracy scenarios most writers fail to...."
"...as conspiracy advocates repeatedly made reference...."
"...as conspiracy advocates noted...."
"...did not prevent conspiracy advocates from claiming...."
"...conspiracy advocates have used...."
"...conspiracy theorists still insist...."
"...continues to be embraced by conspiracy theorists as proof...."
"...the modus operandi of RFK conspiracy advocates...."
Is there reason to think Mr. Ayton's inspiration for writing comes mainly in reaction to what "conspiracy advocates claim"?
In the last paragraph of this article Mr. Ayton refers to "...an understanding of the modus operandi of RFK conspiracy advocates who carefully select eyewitness testimony outside the restrictions created by the preponderance of evidence in the case." Without casting aspersions on Mr. Ayton and his own possible "modus operandi," one can hope that someday he and others will recognize and acknowledge that in the case of the woman in the polka dot dress the eyewitness testimony IS "the preponderance of evidence in the case." One can also hope that a new generation of Americans will be inspired by Estevez's movie --- not so much "to look again at claims by conspiracy advocates," but to learn more about Robert Kennedy and to ask honest questions about his murder and its investigation(s).
Leonard Robinson - 5/16/2007
My view is that political motivation is a necessary component of terrorism, but on its own it is not sufficient proof that an act should count as terrorism. As I said in an earlier message, all acts of "political violence," including wars between countries, are driven by political considerations.
More generally, let us briefly consider the argument that the fact that "Sirhan was influenced by extremist propaganda, that he chose his target on the basis of political motive, and that he believed his actions were legitimate and were ideologically and politically inspired” proves that he engaged in terrorism. Putting aside the lingering debate over the degree to which Sirhan was ideologically and politically inspired, if you substitute "Hitler," or "Stalin," or "Pol Pot," or "Milosevic," you could make the same observation: that the individual "was influenced by extremist propaganda, that he chose his target(s) on the basis of political motive, and that he believed his actions were legitimate and were ideologically and politically inspired.” However, the actions of those individuals are more accurately branded as acts of genocide (or politicide, or ethnic cleansing), rather than being examples of terrorism.
In the same vein, previous acts of violence against American politicians have been called "assassination," despite the fact that most of those cases fit the same set of descriptive criteria that you lay out in your argument for why the RFK case should be defined as an act of terrorism. To reiterate what I've argued before, it seems to me, therefore, that the definition as proposed does not make a sharp enough distinction between terrorism and other types of political violence.
Mel Ayton - 5/15/2007
Thnaks for the input - I think your contributions are excellent and readily apply to any debate on the nature of Sirhan's act.
For my part I would just like to add two quotes which you may or may not agree with:
Paul R. Pillar persuasively argues that political motivation must be a prerequisite of terrorism : “Terrorism is fundamentally different from these other forms of violence, however, in what gives rise to it and in how it must be countered, beyond si