If they were trying to fight a war through means other than terror, they'd be soldiers, not terrorists. If they were trying to change government policy through

If they were trying to fight a war through means other than terror, they'd be soldiers, not terrorists. If they were trying to change government policy through means other than terror, they'd be lobbyists, not terrorists. It's the use of terror as the means that makes them terrorists. Perhaps "the goal of terrorists is to terrorize" is, strictly speaking, an oversimplification, but it's close enough to the truth, surely?