[k-mcgrady]

>> "Nowadays, everything is "terrorism"."

This hasn't changed. Mandela was once (stupidly) thought a terrorist by the current British prime minister. People's definition of terrorism constantly changes. I'm sure there are many people in the Middle East that consider the US a terrorist. It's a ridiculous classification as it's far too vague.

Edit: does the person who down voted this feel like explaining why? I don't see how it doesn't add to the conversation.

[adnam]

To be fair, he was the commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe which carried out bombings, torture and killings. By anyone's standards he was no peacenik.

[gadders]

Also, this was at the height of the cold war and the ANC was a communist organisation. Nobody in the west wanted South Africa becoming part of the USSR's sphere of influence. There was a large amoung of realpolitik involved.

[andyjohnson0]

It was Margaret Thatcher that considered Mandela to be a terrorist, not David Cameron. I didn't down-vote you.

[vixen99]

"Mandela was leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe which he co-founded. "he coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets, and made plans for a possible guerrilla war if sabotage failed to end apartheid". If that's not terrorism (systematic use of violence as a means of coercion for political purposes) what is? The morality of this is another discussion.

[wnoise]

> terrorism (systematic use of violence as a means of coercion for political purposes)

All warfare seems to fit under this definition. Commonly explicitly added qualifiers are "against civilians" or "by non-state actors". Another implicit one is "by people the speaker doesn't like".

[lmm]

Right, but we're talking about a non-state actor attacking civilian targets like power stations. Mandela fits any reasonable definition of terrorist.

[wnoise]

Sure, not disputing that, only the definition expressed.

[k-mcgrady]

I understand she was in power at the time. Cameron was linked however to this[1] 'hang Mandela' campaign poster. I'm not positive but I believe he apologised in parliament after Mandela's death.

[1] http://i.stack.imgur.com/TeN0o.jpg

[andyjohnson0]

Cameron apologied on behalf of Conservative party [1], not personally.

The "Hang Nelson Mandela" material was created by a group, which Cameron was not involved with, within the Federation of Conservative Students.

Disclosure: I'm not a Conservative supporter. I dislike what Cameron is currently doing and loathe Thatcher.

[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-we-wer...

[2] http://www.newstatesman.com/media-mole/2013/12/twitter-fact-...

[SideburnsOfDoom]

I'm pretty sure that they both "considered Mandela to be a terrorist", and most of the rest of the Conservative party at the time did too. But at the time nobody cared what David Cameron thought.

[gadders]

And the Labour governments before Thatcher sold arms to South Africa.

[Zigurd]

Before he was turned into a Nice Older Gentleman Who Wanted Freedom, Nelson Mandela was a real revolutionary. Governments hate to admit it when revolutionaries win.