Vocabulary Watch

If the person who killed 91 people in Norway was a Muslim or Arab, the Press would have declared him a terrorist and rightfully so, no? But for now he's just an 'Assailant ', 'Attacker' (Reuters), 'Gunman' (BBC, CNN & Al Jazeera). Is 'Terrorist ' a protected brand name reserved for Muslims only? The US Dept of State calls it an 'Act of Violence', Not an 'Act of Terrorism'.