Bigots with Car Bombs

So-called Iraqi “insurgents” continue their campaign of terrorist rampages in Baghdad, this time targetting some of the least offensive people on Earth — Sufis.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Sufi Muslims north of Baghdad, killing 10 people in the latest attack by Iraqi insurgents on religious sects they disapprove of, officials said on Friday.

A person who deliberately mass-murders his fellow citizens because they belong to the “wrong” religious sect is not an insurgent. The “insurgents” are not oppressed by a Sufi regime in Iraq, nor can Iraq’s government be considered even remotely dominated by Sufis. Those killed weren’t part of the government or police force in the first place.
“Insurgent” is a morally and ethically neutral term. There are good insurgents and bad in this world, just as there are good guerillas and bad. There are not, however, good mass-murdering terrorists.
Professional writers should know this. Reuters’ so-called “insurgents” are bigots with car bombs. Mass-murdering Sufis solely because they are Sufis is a hate crime. It is distinguishable from genocide only in scale.
UPDATE: On that note, see the HateWatch briefing at Winds of Change.