Why terrorists target civilians, A response

I came across this well thought out post titled Why terrorists target civilians today and thought I may comment on it. Although the post is well thought out, I believe it neglects the political and social aspect of terror,religion and war. The first fact of the matter is we must remember in every instance posted there was a conflict of some type between two factions. Terrorists are not just your normal psychopath who goes around killing people. They usually have a cause and are well aware of the results and consequences of their actions. At times, terrorists families are paid for taking such actions. For others it’s their devout belief that they will be rewarded in the after life. It can also be an act of desperation.In some cases, people who are committing such acts do so because they don’t have the means to acquire the other types of weapons of destruction and therefore can not readily act in a militia and the organisational means of acquiring such a militia with out raising the suspicion of the opposition can at times be near impossible.

The Post mentions the Palestine conflict, what it doesn’t mention is the entire Israeli movement that happened after the WWII. There is no mention of the funding of terrorist organisations by some countries and the belief of religious Jihad.

The post also asks for the reason for killing in Vietnam. The random killing in Vietnam (by US soldiers)was facilitated in part by desperation of the troops and the Vietcong. It is hard to tell some times who is the enemy and who isn’t when none of them are wearing uniforms and you are being shot at by men,women and children. I am not saying that was always the case but it was the case in many instances.

As for the Warlords,dictators, and all the rest of the “bad guys”, they operate often time on fear and territory. This means if their authority is questioned the natural reaction is to either kill the opposition or someone close to the opposition(e.g a family member). These people are acting not out of the goodness of their hearts but out of how can I maintain and grow my position(or wealth, or territory). These people will do whatever it takes. In many ways they are no different from the Mafia.

The US Civil War General Sherman once said” war is hell” and for the armed combatants of any conflict this remains true! People will die and it’s unfortunate, especially those civilians who just want to live their life in peace. Unfortunately, the world is not a utopia. I do believe if we first understand the motives behind ones actions, we can better understand the actions. Once we understand the actions,we can try and find ways to help achieve the great amount of peace amongst the most amount of people. Yet, it is naive to think there is a way to end all conflict.