ABSTRACT
The sort of terror that liberal democracies have been waging war against has been created by individuals and groups that people call "terrorists", who engage in activities that we call "terrorism". Early terrorists claimed that the purpose of their actions could be understood by the phrase "propaganda of the deed". The concept of "Just War" in the Western tradition is a venerable one, stretching back to the Middle Ages, when European intellectuals first grappled with the moral dilemmas presented by warfare. Religious terrorism was not a new phenomenon; in fact, some would argue that it dates back more than 2,000 years, and has included Hindus, Christians, Jews, and even Buddhists, but they seldom referred to themselves as terrorists. The phenomenon of terrorism raises important questions about the value systems of modern democracies. Other home-bred American terrorists included Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and terrorists attacking clinics that provide abortions. Terrorists have desires to fulfill the expectations of reference groups and authority figures.
