Insurgency

For any language geeks out there, I need your help!

I've been stuck on the word "insurgent" for a long time now. I feel that the way the media subjectively uses certain words brings a certain connotation to them. "Insurgent" is one of those words.

I looked up "insurgent" on Dictionary.com and came up with the following:

Main Entry: in·sur·gent
Pronunciation: in-'s&r-j&nt
Function: noun
1 : a person who rises in revolt against civil authority or an established government; especially: one not recognized as a belligerent
2 : one that acts contrary to the established leadership (as of a political party, union, or corporation) or its decisions and policies

So, given this definition, let's compare it to how we've defined the "insurgents" in Iraq. I mean, these guys are painted as next to evil.

When I read the definition of this word, I think about Nat Turner and other abolitionists, or activists like MLK and Malcom X. They fought against political and social oppression from an 'established government', and yet were considered heroes and martyrs.

I don't know exactly where I'm going with this. But it feels like there just has to be more to this Iraqi "insurgency" than just hatred of the US and our "freedom". I mean, for well over two years, people have sacrificed themselves by becoming human bombs. Are they killing themselves just to show the world how much they hate our freedom? Probably not. So, they are obviously fighting for a cause. In this case, they're protesting the idea of being invaded by another nation.

**Note: please don't misinterpret this and think that I'm implying that our soliders are evil. I'm talking about the powers that be who have orchestrated this foolishness of a war. Just because I think that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and co. are idiots does not mean that I don't support our troops. Take that, O'Reilly!**

Anyway...people like Malcom X and MLK died standing up for what they believed in, and we would call them heroes. Is it not fair to objectively call these people who are fighting against a country who have invaded their lands under false pretenses (what ever happened to those silly WMD's?!) "heroes" as well? Granted, insurgents use violence to prove their point (and against innocent people, no less) . But, they are simply proving their point.

"Hero" has an honorable sound to it; while "insurgent" sounds like a disgrace. But is there a such thing as a "heroic insurgent"?

Your thoughts?!

- ACL