Is it Terrorism to Attack Terrorists? Terrorism is politically motivated violence intended to intimidate and terrify. When U.S. embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania, Washington decided toretaliate. On Aug. 20, 1998, the U.S. launched military strikes at what they believed wereterrorist-related bases in Afghanistan and Sudan. They believed these groups played a keyrole in the embassy bombings. Some believe that retaliation and a show of force are actsof self-defence that will eventually result in the destruction of terrorism. Others believethat this attack was merely a demonstration of power and brute force against the Afghanpeople.The U.S. has formulated many points to justify the reprisal attacks in Afghanistanand Sudan. They claim that terrorist acts, such as the bombing of the U.S. embassies, should not go unpunished. The mounting threat of terrorist attacks on American targetsmust be controlled. These murderous factions have untenable goals and unlimited bombs,and they must be stopped before terrorism gets out of hand. U.S. allies supported thebombings and described them as part of a global effort to combat terrorism. This actshows terrorists that democratic governments will act decisively to prevent their evilcrimes. The bombings were necessary to send a message that terrorist attacks would notbe tolerated and to try to prevent further violence. Conversely, some argue that the U.S. is committing international terrorismthemselves. The United States regularly uses violence for political motives, to intimidateand terrify, which is the exact definition of terrorism. The bombings in Afghanistan andSudan were called anti-terrorist raids, but they were actually acts of terrorism by the U.S.themselves. These bombings are not self-defence as the U.S. claims because the attackson the embassies did not pose an immediate danger to the country itself. Some evenclaim that these U.S. hostile policies are an act of war against a sovereig...
