Terrorism and Morality Essay - 1032 Words

Terrorism and Morality In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001 and the U.S. military action in Afghanistan, moral questions have arisen. This essay will consider such questions. Many Church leaders and leading thinkers in the United States have strongly defended the U.S. use of military force in the wake of Sept. 11. Yet outside the States the talk is less about just-war and more about economic and social inequalities. The first and overriding inequality Americans face at the moment is this one: The real murderers, the architects of these murders, are alive and determined to kill again, while the murder victims have been robbed of their lives, their futures, their hopes, dreams and families. More than 5,000†¦show more content†¦I don ´t really know. Outsiders have an emotional and intellectual distance from these events that Americans don ´t share. Americans are trying hard to root their actions in their faith and in their commitment to the larger Church. We Christians listen very carefully to what the Holy Father has to say because he ´s the Successor of Peter and because he has lived through terrible suffering himself. He has a double credib ility -- his teaching office, and the witness of his personal experience. Many say that the Afghan refugees ´ suffering has changed the justification for the war. Is it justified to continue bombing the Afghan cities given that already a number of noncombatants have died due to mistakes in targeting? It should be remembered that the Afghan refugee problem existed long before Sept. 11. Looking back, the United States made a very serious moral error in helping the Afghans against the Soviets but then simply walking away from the country when the Russians were defeated. In effect, we used the Afghans as a Cold War weapon and then discarded them. Now we ´re dealing with the consequences. But the factionalism, killing and refugee problems in Afghanistan preceded American involvement, and the chaos since 1989 cannot be laid exclusively, or even primarily, at America ´s doorstep. Certainly the world ´s wealthy Muslim countries have not seemed to distinguish themselves in solvingShow MoreRelatedMorality Of Terrorism And Terrorism1669 Words   |  7 PagesMorality of terrorism The modern-days terrorist sees himself as being engaged in a just war, where they believe that such act of vile impunity are just and noble. Any act of terrorism could considered absolved from of point view of freedom. So the use of excessive violence in such acts could be subject to moral analysis. The causes of terrorism, although social and political, have intensely moral elements. 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