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Is terrorism ever justified?
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, some commentators have argued that although terrorists bear moral responsibility for their actions, governments sometimes do things that cause terrorists to act. Do you agree?
According to the World Conflicts Today glossary, causality refers to "a relationship between two events, where the second happens because of the first." Moral responsibility, on the other hand, describes "the condition in which individuals are answerable for the consequences of their actions."
Or, put another way, causality means that "X caused Y," while moral responsibility means that the "individual or group that carried out X is morally responsible for Y." (See "Causality and moral responsibility," a document accessible from within the Global Implications section in the Iraq text.)
Consider the following passage from "Causality and moral responsibility," that shows how a person can cause violence without being morally responsible for it:
If Jim blows up his neighbor Fred's red car because he doesn't want any red cars on the street, then no reasonable person would hold Fred morally responsible for the explosion, even though by purchasing a red car (and not, say, a yellow car) Fred created the circumstances that led to Jim's criminal act. Even if Fred had known of Jim's intentions, few people would conclude that Fred now bore some of the moral responsibility for Jim's actions.
Activity: Now consider these statements made by two prominent individuals about the causes of the 9/11 terrorist attacks:
- "Israeli terrorism and American treason caused the September 11 attacks."
David Duke, president of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, an anti-Semitic group
- "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'."
Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority
Duke and Falwell appear to be saying that people with no personal relationship to the 9/11 hijackers nevertheless caused the attacks and are morally responsible for them. Discuss with your students whether it is ever morally permissible to pin moral responsibility for terrorism on anyone besides the perpetrators of terrorist acts.
Then, while discussing causality and moral responsibility in the context of international terrorism, ask your students to answer the following questions:
- Do governments ever cause terrorism without making themselves morally responsible for it?
- Why is it so difficult to identify the precise causes of individual terrorist acts?
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