In article <bkd7o8$ff79$1@ID-136341.news.uni-berlin.de> "Unforgiven" <jaapd3000@hotmail.com>
writes:
>jayembee wrote:
>> David Johnston <rgorman@telusplanet.net> wrote:
>>
>>> They aren't allowed to do a story where terrorists from
>>> the Federation do something, because there are no
>>> terrorists in the Federation.
>>
>> The Maquis.
>
>Well, technically, by deciding to stay on the Cardassian side of the border
>instead of moving, they're not Federation citizens anymore.

And if we are going to get technical, we also have to consider the definition
of terrorist.

AFAWK, the Maquis did not perform attacks intended to terrorize the civilian
populance of their enemies. The blowing up of the Cardassian freighter
Bok'Nor in "The Maquis" was something of a borderline case. Was it aimed
at terrorizing, or at destroying the ship? 

The only other action possibly considered terrorist in nature would be
the bombing of Cardassia with cloaked missiles in "Blaze of Glory". But
that wasn't for real, and the very idea did raise a few eyebrows among
our Maquis-knowledgeable heroes.

Today, it's customary to call anybody who blows up stuff "terrorist"
unless he does it from a modern fighter-bomber using precision-guided
weapons. A while ago, it was customary to call these people "anarchists".
Before that, "rebels". However, the political motivations behind the 
acts are often far more significant than the acts themselves, at least
in predicting how the said bombers will act next, and how to stop them
from acting.

None of the Maquis motivations seemed anarchist in nature. Nor did
there seem to be an element of terrorism, as opposed to the motivations
of the Cardassian blowing-up-stuff movement operating in the DMZ.
Rebellion might come closest, yet the Maquis certainly weren't unified
under a cause of rebelling towards the UFP. Rebellion towards Cardassian
rule might hit the closest, but we have no proof that the Maquis were
under Cardassian rule, either - save for the people of Dorvan V
specified as such in TNG "Journey's End".

Timo Saloniemi