Question:
What is the definition of an insurgent?
2008-05-01 07:33:03 UTC
What is the definition of an insurgent?
Ten answers:
justgoodfolk
2008-05-01 09:01:22 UTC
Someone who fights a foreign occupation or domestic dictatorship by any means necessary including military. I'll give you an example.



Between 1933 and 1945, many thousands of people resisted the Nazis using both violent and non-violent means. Among the earliest opponents of Nazism in Germany were Communists, Socialists, and trade union leaders. Although mainstream church hierarchies supported the Nazi regime or acquiesced in its policies, individual German theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer opposed the regime. Bonhoeffer was executed in 1945. Within the German conservative elite and the German military's General Staff small pockets of opposition to the Nazi regime existed. In July 1944, a coalition of these groups made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.



Resistance also occurred in Nazi-occupied areas outside Germany. In France, General Charles de Gaulle advocated open resistance against the collaborationist Vichy regime. After the German occupation of Denmark in April 1940, a resistance movement began operations there. Its activities included killing informers, raiding German military facilities, and sabotaging rail lines. In February 1941 the Dutch population mounted a general strike in protest against arrests and brutal treatment of Jews. In countries across Europe, underground resistance movements supplied forged documents to those in danger or arranged for safe hiding places or escape routes.



In the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Poland, guerrilla fighters, called partisans, offered armed resistance and engaged in anti-Nazi sabotage. In May 1942, Czech agents assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In retaliation, the Nazis shot all of the men in the Czech village of Lidice. In August 1944, the Polish Home Army began a revolt (later known as the Warsaw Polish uprising). Within two months, the Nazis suppressed the rebellion. That same month, Slovak partisans launched an armed struggle (the Slovak national uprising) against the pro-German Hlinka government.



And another example.



When the war began, the British Colonists ("Americans") did not have a professional army or navy. Each colony provided for its own defenses through the use of local militia. Militiamen were lightly armed, slightly trained, and usually did not have uniforms. Their units served for only a few weeks or months at a time, were reluctant to go very far from home, and were thus generally unavailable for extended operations. Militia lacked the training and discipline of regular soldiers but were more numerous and could overwhelm regular troops as at the battles of Concord, Bennington and Saratoga, and the siege of Boston. Both sides used partisan warfare but the Americans were particularly effective at suppressing Loyalist activity when British regulars were not in the area.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War





Like in any war good or bad depends on your viewpoint. Some will say it was a good thing Americans resisted the British Empire, others might disagree and think a lot of the worlds misery could have been avoided if the UK had kept its colonies in check
getagrip
2008-05-01 08:00:11 UTC
an insurgent is, pretty much just a regular citizen rebelling against the govt. or some occupation.

you know...you see footage of people in street clothes throwing rocks at tanks, or taking up arms...that's an insurgent.

pretty negative connotation huh?

i tell you what, if my neighborhood had foreign tanks driving around in it i would throw rocks at it. i would be an insurgent. they are regular people.



is it a bad thing to be an insurgent?

i have noticed insurgency tends to be disorganized. insurgents typically don't have the weaponry to fight the powers that be.

is it bad? the mere word "insurgent" sounds VERY negative. To be labeled as an insurgent is a sure way to be killed. Comply, stay alive. Rebel, die. But like i said, i think i would throw rocks.
2008-05-01 07:43:22 UTC
insurgent



in·sur·gent [in súrjənt]

noun (plural in·sur·gents)

1. rebel: somebody who rebels against authority or leadership, especially somebody belonging to a group involved in an uprising against the government or ruler of a country

2. political rebel: a member of a political party who rebels against the party leaders or policies





adjective

rebellious: rebelling against authority or leadership, especially against the government or ruler of a country





[Mid-18th century. From Latin insurgent- , formed from insurgere “to rise up,” from surgere “to rise.”]





-in·sur·gent·ly, adverb

Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.



Whether it's a good thing or not depends on your opinion & what the cause is. The for fathers of the U.S.A were insurgents & traitors & they all would've been hanged for treason. And maybe they should've been but they weren't cause they won the war lol. So like i said it depends on your opinion & the cause. Anyone who betrays the current government or authority is an "insurgent". Simple as that.
BUSH/ISRAEL =warcriminal
2008-05-02 06:58:42 UTC
Yo waddup

Actually B pretty much said it right.



The good ones are those who rebel goverment for some good reasons or occupation. In this case its the Iraqi government supporting the US occupation.These insurgents such as local shia or sunni groups fights for a decent cause and for the good of the country.



The other type are the onces like alqaeda who basically destabilized the place.I am sure alqaeda is not "liberating" afghanistan, iraq and somalia.

Such groups such as Alqaeda and the rebels in africa basically wants greed and implement an idealogy for eg alqaeda attempting to take over and radicalize the soceity.

These groups basically kills people and carry out terror activities to support wadever their cause is whether they are good or bad.

peace out
2008-05-01 07:47:52 UTC
There are two types of ''insurgents'' in Iraq:



1- real resistance fighters who actually want to free Iraq from American occupation

2- Arab terrorist scum from Saudi Arabia and other places (al Qaeda terrorists) who go to Iraq just to kill innocent civilians



when you hear about a car bomb that killed 10-50 civilians, this is usually al Qaeda's handy work and probably the work a Saudi Terrorist scum (since more than 50% of the suicide attacks in Iraq are committed by Saudis, and more than 90% by foreign fighters, i.e. terrorists.) Those Wahhabi terrorists think that by killing 50 civilians in a crowded market in Iraq, that they're going to get a free pass to heaven to reunite with their 72 virgins.
whimsy
2008-05-01 07:46:03 UTC
Unlike James Dean, Insurgents are



"Rebels WITH a cause"...



So, they are, then, (by Bush's "with us or against us" logic) anyone who is Anti-James Dean (which inlcudes most Iraqis since they have NEVER even heard of him)...



I hope this helps; personally, I always felt dear James was a bit over-rated, but I fear telling anyone this for what it makes me....



Excuse me now, I hear the faint rotors of black helicopters.
HumanGenome
2008-05-01 07:37:36 UTC
Anyone who apposes the US government is an insurgent.
2008-05-01 07:37:22 UTC
An insurgent is a foriegn fighter that is in your country fighting the liberators. You will see that the insurgents that are in Iraq are from Iran and Syria.
iceman
2008-05-01 07:46:01 UTC
A Freedom Fighter, or a Revolutionary who is fighting against tyranny, invasion and for his freedom, it's very noble.



Regards.
2008-05-01 07:43:08 UTC
insurgent-Iraqi citizen


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