With the exception of a handful of extremists that aren't worth mentioning, Americans as a people do not support terrorism at any level.

I can understand the thought, though. Decisions of varying popularity have been made by the government. In some cases, our government has offered varying forms of aid to organizations outside of the US. In some of these cases, the organization in question is known or suspected to have engaged in terrorist activity; misinformation or cover-ups typically apply in these cases. In other cases, the organization in question 'goes rogue' after receiving aid from the US government- sometimes due to a power vacuum created or left behind by the US government, and sometimes with no such excuse.

I am unaware of any cases where aid was lent to organizations that US citizens could reasonably be expected to recognize as terrorists.

In many cases, these represent dirty dealings by a portion of our government, which is typically hidden from the citizens and even the rest of the government until it is 'too late.'

Can you reasonably hold an individual culpable for something when he is separated by multiple degrees from the event in question, and is wholly ignorant of the affair (Not ignorant due to laziness, but due to a lack of information, the presence of misinformation, and many other factors)?

Should the janitor at Enron have been held culpable for the whole accounting fiasco?

I think not, even if I up the ante to assume the janitor had purchased one share of stock, and as such was entitled to vote on 'official business.' Remember, this wasn't 'official business' and he still doesn't have any accurate information regarding the affair. Even if he had accurate info, the vote he got from his share isn't even a blip to the board.

Thousandin1;- My post was not meant in any way to suggest that the government of the United States of America give aid or succour to Irish terrorist groups. Indeed they gave great assistance by way of intelligence to the U.K, forces of law and oerder. However, successive American administrations did little, if anything to outlaw terrorist fund raising organisions such as Noraid. Many 1000s of U.S. citizens made donations totaling 10s of millions of dollars to Irish murder gangs. I only wish that they could have seen the death, disfigurement, mutilation of human bodies and destruction which their bloodied dollars had caused for over 30 years, These misguided Americans aided and abetted the terrorists to slaughter over 3000 people and mutilate countless 1000s of others, many on whom have since committed suicide rather than face the world with their disfigurements. My argument is that there is no point in going into denial and turning a blind eye to the fact that large numbers of American citizens were indirectly responsible for a significant proportion of the carnage and destruction in the towns and cities of Northern Ireland. Prior to the so called ''troubles'' Northern Ireland was a prosperous part of the U.K. making a very positive contribution to the coffers of the treasury at Westminster. Once the psychopathic murderers and job destroyers commenced their ''war on the people'' they bombed our factories, places of business, killed directors of both domestic and international corporations as well as torching 1000s of vehicles in the public, commercial sectors and private transport. How would Americans feel if the same proportion of Irish people had donated huge amounts of dosh to help fund the shocking atrocity of 9/11?

When I was constructing the heading for my debate issue I was mindful that it would have been be prudent to have commenced the title with;- ''Some'' Americans, as the probability of someone pooh poohing the numbers by attempting to ''reduce them to the ridiculous'' was very likely. However, my omission provided you with the foundation of your excellent and, in many ways, patriotic counter argument. As a long term admirer of America and it's citizens I am very aware of the population of that vast country and how it was, and perhaps still is, a percentage of the Irish American population which provided, promoted and glorified the murder squads of Irish terrorists as well as making a significant contribution towards the financing of their diabolic deeds. I absolutely am not, nor never have for one second claimed that the American nation as a whole supported the crimes the psychopathic low lives were committing in Ireland; simply pointing out that there were adequately significant numbers of them providing finance which not only enhanced the ability of the terrorists to ply their vile trade of death and destruction, but also were partially responsible for prolonging the misery of a long suffering people. I don't have any official figures but I clearly remember a B.B.C, report stating that at one rally alone there were in excess of 5000 Irish terrorist supporters. I appreciate that this is an infinitesimal percentage ( around .0015%, I think) of the population of the United States of America, but it is still over 5000 Americans who supported the terrorists of their choice. Can anyone cherry pick the terrorists which they consider to be justified in their barbaric acts and condemn those with whose cause they don't agree. I would be certain that the Islamic low lives could dream up some ideological goal, the achievement of which justifies the means. These same American supporters of Irish terrorism would undoubtedly express their outrage at the on going atrocities committed by the Islamic filth. The percentage of terrorist killers in Northern Ireland was deemed to be no more than 0.6% of the population which equated to around 1000 active murders. 1000 murderous maniacs can cause a lot of death, just in the same way 5000 wealthy supporters can exacerbate an already desperate situation. The point here is that percentages are of less relevance than the actual numbers.

You know, I can't remember his name at the moment, but someone Brown was a big terrorist towards slave owners. He did kill many people in very bad ways, but I think everyone can agree his cause was just. I think terrorism depends on your views. I know this was a very lacking post, but if I get into an argument I'll do more digging on the facts.