When is a terrorist not a terrorist? When he or she happens to be fighting a country the United States considers an enemy, apparently.

Both Turkey and Iran are having serious problems with guerrilla Kurdish fighters, but while the United States is standing strong and sympathizing with the plight of the Turkish government it has given little consolation to the Iranians.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or P.K.K., has been labeled a terrorist organization by American officials, while the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or P.J.A.K., is rumored to have had "direct or indirect discussion" with American officials according to The New York Times and Telegraph in the UK.

Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. of aiding this group, an accusation the U.S. denies.

So much for the strong stance on terrorism, it the United States labels groups as a matter of convenience. A "terrorist" is someone who attacks our allies and aids our foes. Alright, but didn't we used to just call those groups "enemies?"

If we are going to use the word "terrorist" to mean anyone who opposes us we might as well use a word that is not so emotionally charged and linked to 9/11, a word that does not say "these are the people who crashed planes into our buildings and who must be destroyed."

This is a problem that will not be going away anytime soon. The Kurdish guerrillas know the rocky no-man's-land they inhabit like no one else and are using their advantage to launch attacks against the Iranian National Guard frequently.

These hit and run attacks manage to do quite a bit of damage; according to Kurdish fighters an attack on the fringes of a large group can derail a whole Iranian operation.

So what is a terrorist these days? Separatists fighting for autonomy? Haters of freedom? Or anyone who gets in the way of US foreign policy?