What are the Motives of Terrorism?

The motivation of terrorists are quite various depending on what they hope to accomplish.  What sets terrorism apart from random acts of violence in the usually political objective that are pursued through threats and coercion which are often backed by violence.  It may seem indiscriminate in that it targets locations where civilians gather rather than military targets as conventional forces would.  For example targeting election polling sites would discourage people from voting.  Targeting a government building would discourage citizens from working for or with the government as it puts them at risk.  Many times the terrorist is more concerned with getting attention for their cause which our news networks readily provide without realizing that The Media Supports Terrorism and enemies of the USA by giving attention to their cause. 

People often confuse insurgency with terrorism because insurgents often resort to terrorist tactics such as bombings and kidnappings.  The difference is that insurgency intends to overthrow or replace an existing government while terrorism intends to affect the government’s actions, perhaps a change in policy, better treatment of a minority group (think Black Panther Movement).  The Boston Tea Party was an act of financial terrorism targeting the revenue the English were generating from the taxes they imposed.  This particular act was actually carried out by fledgling insurgents while the entire revolutionary war was fought by American insurgents utilizing guerilla warfare tactics.  Today the Taliban are attempting to regain control of Afghanistan which they previously had under the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.  They are actually insurgents utilizing terrorist tactics to embarrass and demonstrate the incompetence of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  They are actually among a dozen or so militant and insurgent organizations operating in the area, but most Americans don’t know the difference between Al Qaeda, Taliban and Haqqani.  Nor do they know the difference between those organizations and regular Muslims who are among the most peaceful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my life.  The truth is Good Muslisms = Bad Terrorists

In any case, we can’t terrorize terrorists, beheading Bin Laden on Youtube just wouldn’t be good PR for the good ol’ U.S. of A.  but that’s another rant.