Leonardo said:
Warbler said:
can we really conclude that Al Qaeda would only go after political targets?
Why waste good money and explosive on targets that don't interest them? They are a political organization, they go where the money is. They hit the WTC because, guess what, there was money there, World TRADE CENTER! It was a huge kick in the nuts not just to american economy, but to world economy!
I have news for you, Leo. The general public is a political target. Why do you think Al-Qaeda in Iraq blew up every marketplace and public location they could reach with their zealots from 2004 till now? There wasn't a lot of money there. Instead, it created a feeling of "terror," leading people to be afraid to go outside, to believe that the US and Iraqi gov'ts couldn't provide them safety. That is a political motive, as it undermines the authority of the regime and the Americans. The same is easily said of the Boston bombing. It was terrorism, as it was intended to strike terror into the hearts of the American people for political reasons.
That they wouldn't go after targets where there are many Americans gathered together for them to murder?
If you're going by that reasoning they should've done that during the Super Bowl. Juiciest occasion right there!!
I don't think they're concerned with just killing people for the heck of it. If you really think that the baddies want you dead just because they're bad, I'm sorry but you're naive.
They are concerned with killing people for the heck of it, and they don't care whom they harm! Why do you think they pay security guards at the superdome? Just to keep out the white rednecks with guns? I guarantee you terrorists would love to get in there and harm as many people as possible. They don't limit themselves to what we consider military targets.
They don't want us dead just because they're bad. Don't get me wrong, they are very evil, but obviously they see themselves as good people fighting for some cause, in the case of Islamic terrorism, the cause of Allah. But they want Americans dead, regardless of their race, sex, age, or involvement in the military, because they genuinely believe all Americans are evil. They are the very definition of ethnocentrism. Do you believe these Chechen young men feel guilt that they harmed an 8 year-old child? Their motives are more complex, and if you read the manifestos and statements of these jihadists, you'd see that they don't value the lives of their enemies the way we do. If you think they hold to the same values you and I do, then I'm sorry but you're naive.