The Reality of Terrorism is Misunderstood by Many

Terrorism is a tactic, as well as an end in itself, as practiced by radical Islamist terrorists.

One purpose is to intimidate the many by slaying the few.  The hope is that if most everyone fears being a victim of the terrorists, they will be deterred from supporting policies opposed to the terrorists.

So Bin Laden destroys the Twin Towers in an effort to discourage America from further involvement in Middle Eastern affairs.

Many Americans fail to recognize these realities.  So we hear TV commentators lamenting, for instance, what is termed as the “senseless” massacre of “innocent civilians” at the government building in San Bernardino, California.

The slaughter was “senseless” only from a naïve western perspective.  For the terrorist, the destruction was eminently sensible – it was intended to serve a known end – the triumph of radical Islam. 

And that brings us to the second terrorist purpose:  kill.  The term “innocent civilians” is an oxymoron to Islamist terrorists.  Westerners are infidels and, hence, all are guilty of being the enemy.  Their death is ordained by Allah.

 

Notoriously, the Koran contains a passage relied upon by radical Islamists as justification for the carnage they unleash, for instance, in Paris and San Bernardino.  That passage is known as the Sword Verse (9-5):

“So when the sacred months have passed away, slay the idolaters     wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush.  Then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the tax [due from non-Muslims] leave their way free to them.”

Note the modifying final clause.  Extermination can be avoided if idolaters submit to Muslim authority.  However, the radical Islamist terrorists, in contradiction to the Muslim scripture they claim to follow, don’t exactly give their victims the option offered by the Koran.