The Morality of Terrorism
Do you know that the September 11 2001 attacks were the deadliest on U.S. soil? Terrorism is the indiscriminate killing of uninvolved people. It began as a method of radical attempts after the end of the Second World War, after it had become a characteristic of current war. Terrorism is indiscriminate and uncertain violence. Its proponents argue that it can be justified in some cases. “Just war pacifism” may cause terrorism to be accepted.
For example, supporters of terrorism argue that the terrorists in Palestine may be vindicated since they are fighting for a good cause and they lack an alternative method to stop the Israeli occupation. Some scholars who have recently tried to validate terrorism refer to it as “supreme emergency exemption”. Similarly, in efforts to validate terrorism, others insist that it is acceptable in unforeseen situations when there is no other technique to pursue action with reasonable grounds, and this group of scholars has referred to it as “terror-killing”.
Women and Children
Since terrorism intentionally aims for the defenseless and innocent (or simply disregards the idea of innocence), nothing justifies it. The practice is unacceptable since it doesn’t respect anyone. When German cities were being bombed in the Second World War, many women and children lost their lives. Terrorists harm civilians so that they can lower their morale, and this is why it is seen as a civilian strategy.
Terrorists avoid confrontation with the soldiers and instead use guerrilla war on civilians. In such situations, the army can’t say that they are in a war, due to professional pride. Terrorists have a feeling of warrior honor, the kind of feeling one feels when they are pushing for a cause that will benefit many people. Terrorism can never be acceptable since individuals such as health officers, priests, and other ordinary citizens who are not related to the policies opposed by the terrorist, lose their lives.
Terrorism Creates Fear
Terrorism is intended to create extreme fright and utter confusion to push a political agenda. By inflicting pain on citizens through the loss of lives, terrorism creates social instability. Although some civilians can agree with acts of injustice and oppression and support oppression or war on others, for example by raising money or contributing labor to an oppressive regime, most civilians are innocent. Instead of using terrorism, people should seek other avenues to liberate themselves if they think that they are oppressed by a regime or neighboring country.
Despite what terrorists believe, terrorism can never be a justified way of ruining tyrannical regimes and establishing new nations. Such an assertion is false and its supporters have a distorted perception of their history because they don’t know that not everyone should pay the price for causing them suffering. No compelling reason whatsoever can be given for killing innocent people. The purpose of terrorism is to convey the message of fear to ordinary citizens and politicians because the identities and careers of the dead are not known beforehand.
Final Thoughts
Inspite of recent endeavors to defend terrorism, it is still a wrong practice. People who justify terrorism argue that the terrorist’s agenda is too important, and the terrorist can bend moral rules to push their agenda. They also argue that other techniques for pushing for a just cause (liberation) are least effective since it is only through terrorism, where they can destroy oppressive regimes and create new nations. However, a critical analysis of these assertions proves that they are false.
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