Dunno how to unpick this thread, but trying to understand why it happened can be part of grieving....
So terrorism is most easily and therefore best defined by the intended target for me because;
- The fact that the result being to terrorize is circumstantial IMO as all violence has a psychological impact on the victim, and
- civilian non-combatants will have this reaction to anything which comprises their safety and way of life whether it was intended to do so or not, and
- in the same way the motive being religious or political is also circumstantial because all war fits that definition.
What makes those things seem central is just the targeting of civilians.
By targeting civilians it;
- has the greater psychological effect and
- is differentiated from normal crime by its apparent religious, political or ideological origin.
Basically its an argument of motive versus target, as the definition of the word. I think motives can be misleading or unknown, and play to the narrative of the offender. I'd rather use the offender association, the groups identity to define motive eg; terrorism (target) by group (offender).
Furthermore, labeling the action based on the intended target is a really good way to define the nature of a threat, because it gives us a good representation of the nature of the activity right there in the label itself! What defines the conduct of violence is usually all about the target, because effort to achieve an effect is usually shaped by it and the tools available to conduct the violence. Motive is too vague in operational usefulness IMO, not without value, but in operational terms the motive of action is usually to create effect and effect is determined by targeting.
This then importantly also effectively differentiates it from conventional war and unconventional war which then benefits from being intended target specific also, being military forces. So then for me, what differentiates it from other crime is the scope, because as explained it really ties into the nature of threat and nature of the target. I've read different views by different organisations about the definition but I'm yet to be convinced..... so all the above is just my opinion, but with reasons!!
