know the difference: dropping atomic bombs to instill terror in civilian population is cool and good, assassinating ceo for vibes is terrorism

If we're gonna get techincal, the US cannot do terrorism because terrorism is legally defined as a non-state organizations crying out violent actions. We inherited this legal framing from the British, who have used it against pretty much anyone who pushed back against their imperial project. Ironically, this includes most of our mythologized founders.

This also makes our State Sponsors of Terrorism designation functionally nothing more than an arbitrary punitive measure on countries we don't like.