Terrorism and the Question of Moral Justification: A Bioethical Point of View

Abstract

There have been cases of violent and horrific acts on the international scene that have been referred to as terrorism. People have been discussing terrorism mostly in relation to diverse issues such as the abduction of Terry Waite (an envoy of the Church of England) in Lebanon in January 1989, the bombing of the Pan African Jumbo Jet which killed 270 people on 21st December, 1988, the suicide flights into New York’s World Trade Towers on 11^th September, 2001, the various bombings in Iraq, India and very recently, in London and other gory attacks on individuals, institutions and communities in different parts of the world. Given this, the poignant questions are: who are terrorists? Are they criminals or liberation fighters? What is the moral justification for terrorism? Who are they fighting for? Can terrorism be made a way of life? In other words, can it be made a way of addressing grievances? What are full consequences of terrorism on property and human lives? Do terrorists have a better way of addressing their grievances? Do we have any reason to support terrorism? In order to achieve its intended objective, the paper discusses meaning and definitions of terrorism, nature, sources, dimensions, types, causes, effects and proposed solutions to the problem of terrorism. The paper concludes that there is no moral justification for terrorism, it is unethical because it is evil, it is a serious, heinous and nefarious crime, hence, we should all rise up for its utter condemnation.

Keywords:  Terrorism, loss of lives and property, violence, moral justification.