Terrorism, and Why It Never Works

[penpusher]

We have seen a lot of terrorism these past several years. It has taken a lot of similar forms and usually involves guns or bombs which killed people of a particular nationality or ethnic group or job.

But terrorism never accomplishes the stated goal of what the terrorists were hoping to achieve, which makes you wonder... why are terrorist groups still using a method that they must know isn't going to work?

If the idea is to make people afraid to go out, terrorism has failed. People are more cautious and maybe reserved, but people have not stopped traveling, even in areas where bombings and shootings are commonplace.

If the idea is to kill particular people responsible, terrorism has failed. The random bombing and systematic slaying of citizens never includes the people terrorists cite as the reason for their derision.

If the idea is to disrupt the economy, terrorism has failed. The trading and commodities markets may sink a bit for a short while, but they come back up.

If the idea is to live to see their eventual success, terrorism has failed. It is rare that a terrorist lives even a few years beyond the moment of their attack and, of course, many are suicide missions.

Even knowing all that, we still have terrorism. We know it doesn't work, it's ineffective in every possible way for ends the terrorists hope to achieve. And it guarantees you as the perpetrator will be hunted and hounded for the rest of your miserable life.

We need to get this message out there. We aren't going to reach the most desperate "nothing left to lose" sorts, but we have to cut back on those who might be reached. If we can do that, maybe we can do more...