The entire purpose of the language of terrorism is to cloak the sentiments of war in a victim rhetoric. You see, France isn't "at war"; it's merely responding to "terror" attacks. Those wretched, vile gunmen are not warriors or soldiers; they're madmen, lonewolf terrorists.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo's office on January 7 might otherwise be considered an invasion, an attack from outside forces France has declared war on. But war is far too brutish for the 21st Century, where of course violence is on an inevitable downturn and world peace is just around the corner if not for a few meddling terror cells.
Calling such events "terrorism" is just a way of de-familiarizing people with the concept of war. No matter what, an attack on any Western nation's soil is terror, wholly undeserved, never the result of an ongoing worldwide conflict but merely the work of crazed individuals.
