Do terrorists ever have a point or are they just bored?

Question

Why are Hezbollah fighting the way they are?

Do terrorists want to draw attention to something?

They are losing more land to Israel now!

Kids are being killed on BOTH sides RIGHT NOW and it just doesn't make sense to me.

This is 2006 not 1916.

I KNOW THEY ARE NOT BORED!

Answer 1

They are NOT just bored.

They generally have a cause that supercedes all other things in their lives.

Answer 2

This is a tricky subject since one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. These people are usually endists by this I mean they believe that the ends justify the means. Behind most, if note every, act of terror is a group trying to highlight the struggles or justice suffered by a group of people.

In sad cases like Israel and Palestine, where Israel has a strong army, miltary aircrafts and is alledgely receiving funding from the US and the other does not have the financial grounds to fight the other on equal terms, it uses the only true means at its disposal.
This usually ends up been its people.

Now that the eyes of the World are drawn to disportionate response carried by the Israeli miltary- maybe this awful war will finally come to an end.

Answer 3

They see themselves as freedom fighters fighting for a cause or against a form of oppression.

Two things help Israel create the monopoly of the 'truth' (i.e. Israel fighting terrorism) 1. Bush on their side and of course, the greater fire power, using their capacity to bomb the Lebanese to oblivion.

Hezbollah see the Israeli occupation of their land as illegal and resist Israel's occupation using force. Having targeted their campaign upon the Israeli civilian population. This is known as terrorism.

But think about this, could the IRA have had any bargaining power without having used terrorism to meet their ends? Could they have achieved their ends through negotiation alone?

Answer 4

Fanaticism and Fundamentalism seem to drives terrorists on. They believe that ultimately, they are fighting for something better and greater for themselves and others like them.

Remember the old saying: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"....Hezbollah drove Israel out of Lebanon when it used to be occupied.

Roadkill: As the quote says, what you consider a terrorist is to the people of Lebanon, a freedom fighter....they drove the Israeli's out in the 1990's.

As for the tactics used...well, the Viet Cong used the same tactics in Vietnam...so it's nothing new. They try to gain an advantage, just as anyone who was vastly outnumbered and outgunned would.

By the way, I dont condone terrorism, I just try to understand it.

Answer 5

Look..it is not possible to make a general statement about the causes of terrorism in the way that many people do, such as 'they are nuts' 'they all hate us and want us to die' 'they don't care about us therefore they are evil'. I feel like i am the only person in the western world that thinks jingoistic reactionary rubbish that is spouted by people who have no clue as to the mindset of 'terrorists. I abhor violence, and think that the resort to acts of terrorism means basically that you have lost- surrendered the moral high ground, but that does not mean to say that I can dismiss everyone who thinks a different way to me without trying to understand why someone did something. Jeez..People do not kill themselves because they are bored. Ask yourself what you would kill yourself for. I would guess most people would say nothing. Just imagine how passionate about something these people are. The only way to prevent someone doing this terrible stuff is to understand them and their reasoning. To say they have none because we do not see it is not only naive but plain dumb. I don't expect to change any opinions here but I started writing this and got angry. Apologies for the soapbox. but there you go.

Answer 6

Terrorism / terrorist is really a stupid term. It's tactic-oriented, and obfuscates the essence of what differentiates the sides in these many coupled wars. If we set terrorism aside for a moment and focus on essentials, we have commonality on one side (Israel, USA, England, Australia...) some degree of freedom and support for individual rights. On the other side (Iran, Iran, Iran, Syria, Palestine (something less than a state)...), we have a coalition of mobs that embrace hatred (fear) of those freedoms, and prefer dictatorships and universal force of might over mind. In a word, it's a clash of man as an independent freewill entity vs. a savage slave to mystic collectivism. I prefer to live in a state that permits independent man to thrive.

Answer 7

The Middle East is to some point stuck at the same socio/political place as Europe was in the Middle Ages ... people were persecuted and hounded for their religious and social beliefs and many many died ... as we managed to resolve those issues and now have a relatively stable society then so will they ... just, unfortunatly not yet.
One way to help this process forward is to give women in these societies more power and inclusion ... violent societies tend not to have women in an equal place with men.

Answer 8

Odd this word 'terrorism'. It is such an abstract and ambiguous term. Yet those to which it is applied to usually have very well defined aims and motives. Plus different 'terrorist' groups differ far greater than such a homogenous term would suggest.

Calling your enemy a 'terrorist' seems to be an Orwellian example of 'Newspeak' to dehumanise them and to avoid the need to engage with the deeper problems that their existence represents, because addressing these problems might mean facing up to your own shortcomings.

Answer 9

I think they are people who believe in what they believe - fanatically.
I have no problem with a terrorist turning himself into a bomb, BUT why can't he and his friends go into a field and blow themselves up and leave the innocent bystanders alone. After all humanity will eventually listen IF one terrorist after another say every 2 hours every day, day in and day out killed themselves (and themselves alone) and the anger that gets felt by the families of the innocents wouldn't detract from their message. On the other hand maybe there are not enough of them. Any fanatics fancy giving it a try ???????

Answer 10

The Irish Rebublican Army want the UK to leave Northern Ireland and that it reunites with the Republic of Ireland.

But since they've been not as active as before, are they still a "terrorist" organisation?

Answer 11

Freedom fighters fight for freedom. This bunch of terrorist fight not to live free but to see us and Jews dead.

They are mixed in the civilians so there is no distinction between the civilians and the terrorist. I see no reason for us to make a distinction. It's sad that parents have placed their children in harms way by supporting the terrorist.

But, there is no distinction to be made between the murderous terrorist and the civilians that harbor them. Nor do I see any reason to take any extrodinary measures to protect their safety.