If we like them, they're freedom fighters, she thought. If we don't like them, they're terrorists. In the unlikely case we can't make up our minds, they're temporarily only guerrillas.

A cynical observation about labels. The speaker notes that whether armed groups are called freedom fighters or terrorists depends on whether we like them, with guerrillas as the fallback when we're undecided. It's a pointed remark on how loaded language follows sympathy.

Context reviewed 20 September 2026