4 ms·
> The goal of terrorism is to scare people into restricting their own freedoms. It has worked amazingly well so far. No it isn't. Not any more than it is the g
by goto11 5y ago
> The goal of terrorism is to scare people into restricting their own freedoms. It has worked amazingly well so far.
No it isn't. Not any more than it is the goal of burglars to get people to invest in home security. The goal of terrorism is to use attacks on civilians to achieve political goals, like getting Northern Ireland out of the UK or get the US out of the Middle East.
Why would terrorists care how much the enemy restricts their own freedom? Just because something hurt your enemy does not mean it helps you get closer to your goal.
- thecrash 5y ago> Just because something hurt your enemy does not mean it helps you get closer to your goal. I think that's a good general observation, but a key assumption of terrorism is that hurting your enemy /will/ pressure them to do what you want. Terrorism is all about out unconventional ways of bringing pain to your enemy, rather than just defeating their military in combat. So I think terrorism can definitely be intended to sow fear, paranoia, overreaction, internal division, etc within the enemy civil society. Not as the end goal, but as part of the strategy of inflicting paint to pressure them to capitulate.