Dear Sean M
I think we are loosing site of the definition of terrorist. Every soldier is not a terrorist, where by your definition most soldiers could be seen as terrorits. Rather a terrorist, according to standards set in courts, is one who targets civilian populations. The executive branch of the US government, and the Irish and British governments have been seeking to change the definition to deal with the contradictions in our history and present. But, I fear that is a rather slippery slope. The changing of that definition led to juryless courts in Ireland, and now in the US.
Cheers Larry