Military linguo, oxymorons, misnomers.....

I was always curious on the origins of certain military terminologies, as well as poking fun at oxymorons and misnomers.

For oxymoron, how about the "Peacekeeper" revolver, and the "battle of Britain" as a misnomer (please spare another debate), where did the term Guerilla warfare comes from?

 

From "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary"

Main Entry: 1guer·ril·la
Variant(s): or gue·ril·la /g&-'ri-l&, ge-, g(y)i-/
Function: noun
Etymology: Spanish guerrilla, from diminutive of guerra war, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werra strife -- more at WAR
Date: 1809
: a person who engages in irregular warfare especially as a member of an independent unit carrying out harassment and sabotage

 

So are the insurgents in Iraq consider guerillas or terrorists?

I got another oxymoron, "military intelligence" (kind of lame I know), help me out lads.

 

Well, guerrillas fight armies, terrorists generally only kill civilians to cause... terror.

 

Well Liang, the situation is much more complicated than that .


Some insurgents are terrorists in that they do in fact kill civilians, and still others are not. The means to acheiving their end is different, with one being wrong while the other correct.

But the real question is this: Is their goal or cause just?