161
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
The stated goal of ISIS is to eliminate "the grey area". Today there is a sizeable minority of Muslims living in western society. ISIS wants to show that it's not possible for Muslims to live in the ...
- 3,751
121
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
This question seems a little like why do terrorists commit terror?
The aim of a terrorist group isn't usually to be left alone, but more to provoke conflict, or as a form of violent protest against ...
- 8,457
98
votes
Accepted
Why is Islamic State (IS) referred to as "so-called"?
The name Islamic State is a claim to a global caliphate.
This claim is rejected by everybody else, from western leaders to Muslim leaders, to other Islamic extremists.
"so-called" is added to make ...
- 37.3k
87
votes
Accepted
What was the political motive behind United States Osama Bin Laden's killing? Why not capture him?
Kill versus capture
If they had captured Osama bin Laden, what would they have done with him? Barack Obama opposed the Guantanamo Bay facility, so they would have had to keep him on United States ...
- 90k
86
votes
Accepted
Are gangsters hired to attack people at a train station classified as a terrorist attack?
There is no single definition of terrorism that everyone agrees to. However,
Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate [... the] law;
Appear to be intended
(i) to ...
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85
votes
Accepted
Would it save lives in London to arm every individual police officer?
A lot of the opposition to arming the London Police seems to be due to the Police themselves. The BBC explored this in 2012
A 2006 survey of 47,328 Police Federation members found 82% did not want ...
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71
votes
What is the point of "we are not scared"-responses to terror?
My point is, it just seems ... well obvious to not be scared of terror attacks.
It might seem that way to you, but it still doesn't stop politicians from demanding and making policy based on fear of ...
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61
votes
Non-subjective definition of "terrorist", or widely used equivalent term?
TL;DR: Yes, there is an objective term.No, there is no way to force people to use the term objectively in political contexts and they don't tend to.
The term "terrorism" isn't subjective. ...
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60
votes
Did the U.S. lose the war against the Taliban?
Yes. Unquestionably. They left their enemy in control.
Word games about military dominance in the field are besides the point in a guerrilla war. That kind of sophistry has been tried on Vietnam ...
58
votes
President Trump tweeted that the US will be designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. Does he have that power?
As mentioned elsewhere, in theory, Trump cannot do this. Among the various obstacles is the fact that antifa is a philosophy. It would be like labeling anti-Semitism or anti-racism or deontology a ...
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55
votes
Accepted
What are the drawbacks of the US making tactical first use of nuclear weapons against terrorist sites?
There is no particular benefit to using a nuclear weapon. We have some conventional bombs that rival a small nuke in terms of destructive power, without the lasting fallout.
Using a nuke would ...
- 2,562
54
votes
Why does the Voice of America refer to "militants" and not "terrorists" when talking about armed Palestinian groups, apparently with no backlash?
In realpolitik, dictionary meanings are unimportant. The label "terrorist" is more often applied to a most-disliked enemy, rather than to one who use terror tactics the most.
The key enemy ...
- 6,640
48
votes
What have the US and NATO done in Afghanistan for 20+ years?
TLDR:
It would be grossly unfair to think that the NATO and US military did not try their very best to win this. Many soldiers paid a very high price and are now justifiably very distressed. Pretty ...
46
votes
How did ISIS get so much enmity from every world power, and most non-state terrorist groups?
What makes ISIS different from other similar groups and movements is that ISIS had the express goal of establishing an independent Islamic nation-state by conquering and annexing territory from a ...
- 73.4k
43
votes
What is the point of "we are not scared"-responses to terror?
Traffic accidents don't kill people to scare populations, terrorists do. That's literally what terrorism means : act in order to induce terror.
Despite the efforts of a determined few to induce a ...
- 1,351
43
votes
Why has Germany not seen as many Islamist terror attacks as France, Italy or the UK?
I don't think this question is usefully answerable:
(It's an excellent question, but there are too many variables and not enough cases to look at to really know what works and what doesn't in ...
42
votes
Would it save lives in London to arm every individual police officer?
But what are the arguments for and against the arming of every constable ?
Cost - it costs money to train, equip and maintain levels of competence.
Overkill (no pun intended) - most crime does not ...
- 3,035
42
votes
What do terrorists hope to accomplish by killing muslims?
First of all, self-identifying Muslims are not the only people in the world who commit terrorist acts. Terrorist acts are committed by all kinds of people in the name of all kinds of ideologies. But ...
- 78.2k
41
votes
How is the October 7th attack classified as terrorism based on casualty statistics, and how does it compare to similar events?
Targeting civilians vs civilian casualties
Putting aside numbers for a bit, the context here is clear. The 7th October massacre specifically targeted civilians for gruesome torture, murder, and ...
- 37.3k
38
votes
What are the drawbacks of the US making tactical first use of nuclear weapons against terrorist sites?
Precedent.
The world has a seventy year history of shunning the use of nuclear weapons as war fighting tools. Use of nuclear weapons by the USA or any other nation would be a huge line to cross, ...
- 481
38
votes
How did ISIS get so much enmity from every world power, and most non-state terrorist groups?
Why is ISIS so reviled? There are 3 components to it:
ruthlessness and cruelty
territorial ambitions
lack of diplomacy
Western nations
The beheadings and wanton cruelty of the group speak for ...
36
votes
Why is Islamic State (IS) referred to as "so-called"?
Because they (Daesh) claim that their government is "Islamic State", but they consider most of Muslims as polytheist or infidel, and on the other hand, the majority of Muslims all over the ...
- 6,561
35
votes
Why does ISIS continue to do things to make their "enemy" even more determined to go after them?
Many answers here are attempting to answer your question in a similar perspective, and they are all extremely interesting and most of them seem very well documented.
What I'll offer you is an attempt ...
- 467
35
votes
Accepted
Appeal process for being designated a "Terrorist Group" (Canada)
The appeals process is set out in part 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001), which amended the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act and implemented the list. In simple terms, the process is that a ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
34
votes
Accepted
How did ISIS get so much enmity from every world power, and most non-state terrorist groups?
Putting aside enmity from Western and non-Muslim nations, I think it has got to do with the fact that ISIS sometimes contest overlapping powers on existing lands and they handled terroristic diplomacy ...
- 602
34
votes
Accepted
What are the differences among ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban?
TLDR:
Persecute civilians locally
Attack civilians in Western countries
Military operations
Can be engageddiplomatically
Taliban
✔✔ (1994-2001)2021+: ???
allowed Al Qaeda operationsleading to 9/11
✔✔...
31
votes
Are gangsters hired to attack people at a train station classified as a terrorist attack?
As a general rule, when I use the word terrorism, I mean it to involve a small group using terror to attack the general population. Under that kind of definition, it includes the Irish Republican ...
- 90k
30
votes
Would it save lives in London to arm every individual police officer?
It is interesting to note that that kind of terrorism is about the only case where widespread armed response makes any kind of sense at all.
The normal UK police (And I wish more politicians would ...
- 549
30
votes
Why is US reluctant to consider Russia a state sponsor of terrorism?
The designation of state sponsors of terrorism has little to do with terrorism and is mostly a political tool used by the US to justify economic sanctions. That's why countries like North Korea (...
- 2,480
28
votes
Accepted
Does Iran sponsor terrorists?
"Terrorist" as already suggested is thrown around a lot nowadays. One party may consider a group to be terrorist while some other party might view them as revolutionaries or Freedom fighters....
- 1,497
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