Terrorism Justified According to Purpura 2007 , Terrorism Essay

Terrorism Justified?

According to Purpura (2007), terrorism as a term does not have a fixed definition. This effectively means that its usage and application is largely hinged on a myriad of viewpoints, be they political or religious. In this text, I concern myself with terrorism; its justification, usage and application.

The Use of Terrorism by Powerful Governments to Delegitimize Less Powerful Governments

Though terrorism cannot be seen to be a wholly biased term formulated by powerful governments solely to delegitimize those states having insignificant political or economic clout, there are instances where governments at a national level utilize terror so as to advance a well defined agenda. It therefore follows that though in most cases it is the "non-state actors" who are blamed for terror, powerful governments also utilize terror to stifle dissent or further diplomatic efforts as well as state policies abroad.

Terrorism as "War by Other Means"

It can be argued that regardless of which side wins a conventional war, the probability of enormous damage remains inevitably high. Hence in that regard, states could view terrorism as a less costly "war by other means." Further, when terrorism is viewed from a rational perspective, it can effectively be described as "war by other means." From this perspective, terrorism comes across as the use of conscious tactic to bring about terror aimed at destabilizing an established order. It can also be noted that just like war, terrorism can be thought of in terms of what motivates or drives the combatants. The combatant's aspirations in this case could be hinged on psychological, cultural or even political motivations.

The Use of Terrorism by Al-Qaeda: Justification

According to the "Last Resort" just war tenet, the use of force can only be just if all the non-violent options have been pursued with little success. In Bin Laden's Declaration of Jihad against America, the late al-Qaeda chief calls upon all Muslims to free their land from the aggressor. The tone he adopts in this case seems to demonstrate frustration at earlier efforts to accomplish a similar goal. When it comes to the "Legitimate Authority" tenet, a war is just if it is lead…