Title: Is Terrorism Ever Justified?
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Content: Morally, we must “treat humanity…never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end.” In other words, terrorists cannot morally justify innocent deaths to achieve some ultimate goal. R.G. Frey and Christopher Morris have similar beliefs that, “terrorists cannot avail themselves of such theories to justify furthering the ends of some small group at the cost of greater damage to the interests of others.” Even if we disagree with Kant, Frey and Morris, and assume that the terrorist’s goals were justifiable, terrorist attacks in no way guarantee a set end result. Although a terrorist would achieve his goal of threatening and inducing fear in the public by performing a terrorist act, there is no guarantee that such an act will either create the political change the terrorist is trying to achieve, or attain the desired response by the government or the public. The media attention that is derived from the act may or may not be conducive to the terrorists’ objectives. One may argue that the terrorists are justified in their actions. Those in support of the terrorist attacks would most likely also support the attackers’ cause. For example, a group of “terrorists” may bomb the white house because they believe that President Bush is corrupt and is killing innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan without just cause. The terrorists believe that if they bomb the White House and kill the President, the Bush administration will fall, and the wars in the Middle East will end.