Okay, maybe this is just a personal pet peeve, but again it seems this article shows a blurring of the line between terrorism and military action.

President Bush dropped flowers into the water Thursday at the sunken battleship USS Arizona, a reminder of the terror that struck America more than a half century ago.

...White House officials drew parallels between Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 with al-Qaida's attack against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

I don't have the exact quotes, but if true, the officials should know better.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a sneak attack, but it was NOT an exact "parallel" to the attack on the WTC. It was NOT terrorism.

It was an attack by a formal military force, complete with flags and marked aircraft, on an unmistakable military target. Of course some civilians died. Some civilians ALWAYS die in an military attack, but that alone is not enough to make it terrorism.

Bush (I don't know if he personally made any misleading remarks) and his people could have made an excellent point about being prepared and vigilant, in which case the parallels between Pearl Harbor and 9/11 would have been valid.

I am quite careful in describing attacks in Iraq as either terrorism or guerilla attacks. There is a difference, and it's not hard to see it.