Who becomes a terrorist?

Who becomes a terrorist?
This kind of person did:
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Bali Bomber with his daughter shortly before execution

What kind of person does this picture show?

As a devout muslim, or at least so I believe, I find the conclusions in this article quite generalizing and mostly futile. I am living in the Middle East, have many friends who are good muslims and have met quite a few fundamentalists, as you call them. Maybe I can call myself a fundamentalist, too; although I do not exactly agree with that term; because in your language it would automatically come to mean a fanatic or lunatic.

Firstly, I should confess that I seriously believe at least some of the terrorist acts being committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. are a very desperate or poor muslim being forced to do so by the occupying forces for some kind of gain (like money for saving his starving family, ..). I believe so, because I can not at all see any point in some of the terrorist acts like blowing up the regular marketplace full of innocent and mostly devout muslims. I have seen some of the most fanatic muslims and none of them have such a capacity according to my personal judgement. After all, we are god-fearing people who believe killing one innocent person equals to killing all humanity and such a crime earns you a sure place in the hell. What I heard from local people in Afghanistan ratifies my view; they say there are 2 Taliban, one fighting against the Americans and one fighting for the Americans (killing and abducting civilians to create hatred towards the resistance).

Apart from that, I can say that terrorists, as you call them in a generalization, can be divided to at least two separate categories. One group does it out of sheer ignorance of religion or for some kind of material gain. These people usually misinterpret the religious dogmas and rules and use them as an excuse for their inhuman acts. Maybe it's news for you, but most muslims, me included, were in absolute shock when we first heard a muslim blowing himself up knowing that his act would kill innocent people/ fellow muslims along with the enemies and when we heard that some of these people believe it's ok to incidentally/intentionally kill innocent muslims who happen to be near the occupiers. Al Qaeda seems to be one of these groups and these are the ones no muslim in his sane mind approves.

The second category includes muslims who fight to defend the lands of Islam or defend / revenge their muslim brethren. This is what applies to some groups announced terrorists by the occupiers and they include Hamas, Hezbollah, and some factions of Taliban.

The main problem for regular muslims like me is that the ideological West uses the term terrorist as a weapon against anybody in the muslim world who dares stand in their way. Why are Hezbollah and Hamas called terrorists? ıIf it is because they are killing the civilians, then the same terming should apply to Israel and the U.S. who has more means to avoid civilian killing but to the contrary massacre the civilians intentionally to "make their enemies think twice before attacking again". Why is Iran called a terrorist state while there is no credible proof of their involvement in any terrorist act.

All in all, it is such generalizatinos together with constant and intentional attacks on islamic values, be it desecrating the Quran, insulting the prophet of Islam, banning Hijab and minaret,etc., that make regular muslims confused and gives them a perception of being under constant attack, a feeling will only benefit the so-called terrorist organization.

the West, if it sincerely wants a fair end to (Islamic!!) terrorism, should stop its hypocrisy. Treat muslims with respect, distinguish between the terrorist and freedom fighters in their language and attitudes, stop their colonial greed in the muslim lands, learn to respect muslims and their way of living (instead of constantly trying to assimilate the muslims) and return their rights back to them, like in Palestine.

Now, as the above will most likely never happen, terrorism will continue and muslims will not denounce terrorists as the enemy expects to do, simply because such a kmove would mean complete submission to the enemy.
 
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Brother! I didn't mean to scare you. If you choose to be, which seems so, it is your own free will. I just tried to convey what I think are the ignored realities.

REPLY: YOU DO NOT SCARE ME. All your not so subtle threats. I do not scare PUNK. ...traveler ...scroll above and read about the " freedom fighters " and such to see what I am referring to. I am a NEW YORKER and do not take crap from such as you.
 
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@ fellow: I really don't think he was trying to scare you dude. Sounds to me like he was just trying to voice an informed opinion...
 
chuush said:
Firstly, I should confess that I seriously believe at least some of the terrorist acts being committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. are a very desperate or poor muslim being forced to do so by the occupying forces for some kind of gain (like money for saving his starving family, ..). I believe so, because I can not at all see any point in some of the terrorist acts like blowing up the regular marketplace full of innocent and mostly devout muslims.
Certainly some of the bombings etc are by collaborators and allies of those you might label "Western", but not all. The only reason you can't see the obvious point of some of those attacks (for one: undermining the power of some entity by removing its ability to guarantee public security) is because you have a cleaned up view of Islam and its believers - you think it does not have the flaws of other religions and other, similar political ideologies. In a minute or two you will find yourself claiming that certain jihadists are "not real Muslims" and so forth.
chuush said:
The second category includes muslims who fight to defend the lands of Islam or defend / revenge their muslim brethren.
There are no "lands of Islam". It's the major religion in some places, is all. It has no claim to territory, no special right and power over people who live here or there, and in years to come if the Middle East peacefully becomes Buddhist and China peacefully becomes the new "land of Islam" that would OK - right?
chuush said:
All in all, it is such generalizatinos together with constant and intentional attacks on islamic values, be it desecrating the Quran, insulting the prophet of Islam, banning Hijab and minaret,etc., that make regular muslims confused and gives them a perception of being under constant attack,
If the common realities of living in a more open and free society "make" "regular Muslims" feel as though they are under constant attack, what can be done?

chuush said:
The main problem for regular muslims like me is that the ideological West uses the term terrorist as a weapon against anybody in the muslim world who dares stand in their way.
But you refuse to ally yourselves with the Westerners who battle against that ideology - the secular humainist, liberal, ideologically less corrupt and better informed Westerners. You treat the West as a unity, and ignore the extent to which these sentiments in Westerners are often minority or mere easily corrected and shallow, temporary opinions - and even, sometimes, accurate or funny or simply personaility traits.

And why? Because what you demand as "respect" you are unwilling to grant, to your neighbors. This, for example, is wholly reasonable in appearance, and something almost every Westerner would agree with:
chuush said:
the West, if it sincerely wants a fair end to (Islamic!!) terrorism, should stop its hypocrisy. Treat muslims with respect, distinguish between the terrorist and freedom fighters in their language and attitudes, stop their colonial greed in the muslim lands, learn to respect muslims and their way of living (instead of constantly trying to assimilate the muslims) and return their rights back to them, like in Palestine.
except that it is accompanied by the encouragement of people who insist on respect for their oppressions and character flaws, take insult capriciously and unjustifiably, demand that their taking of insult be the definition of harm and attack, and even murder those who make them feel insulted. Much of that in the service of not merely Islam but the territory and territorial expansion of Islam. So its apparent reasonableness conceals an agenda and a threat - it appears to be using real issues and agreements for leverage to advance a wholly illegitimate cause. And that is the same hypocrisy you attribute (accurately) to the West, merely in the less powerful (for now) - and with less opposition, among the societies of its proponents.
 
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How do you explain this:

(`)

and this:

puppet ?

Americans do not put a space before the question mark.
 
How do you explain this:

(`)

and this:

puppet ?

Americans do not put a space before the question mark.

Well I do. So what ? I am so tired. John , let us end this silly nonsense now. I am a former U.S. Marine. I do take some pride in being an American.
 
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