Saigon
Gold Member
Following on from a few other threads where the subject of terror has arisen, I thought it might be interesting to consider whether any kind of terror attack can ever be acceptable.
To my way of thinking, no attack against civilian targets is ever acceptable for any reason.
I am also opposed to most attacks against government buildings, such as the 9/11 strike on the Pentagon, the King David Hotel bombing, etc, because I think most of the casualties often end up being civilians as well.
But what about resistance against oppression?
Here's one case I often think of - that of Max Manus...his attacks would fit most peoples definition of terror, but was he really evil?
Max Manus, a Norwegian resistance leader whose Oslo Gang sank so many German warships, blew up so many German planes and kept Norwegian spirits so high during the Nazi occupation in World War II that he became a national hero, died on Friday, The Associated Press reported. He was 81.
Once he and a countryman had parachuted safely into the countryside outside Oslo and been supplied with hundreds of pounds of explosives and other provisions in follow-up air drops, there was hardly a day that the Germans did not feel their sting.
Although his chief target was German shipping in the Oslo harbor, Mr. Manus, who sometimes spent days under stinking piers waiting for cargo ships to tie up and who claimed even a battleship among his prizes, blew up virtually any German military or industrial target he encountered, including more than 100 German warplanes.
Max Manus, 81, Dies - Fought Nazis in Occupied Norway - Obituary; Biography - NYTimes.com
To my way of thinking, no attack against civilian targets is ever acceptable for any reason.
I am also opposed to most attacks against government buildings, such as the 9/11 strike on the Pentagon, the King David Hotel bombing, etc, because I think most of the casualties often end up being civilians as well.
But what about resistance against oppression?
Here's one case I often think of - that of Max Manus...his attacks would fit most peoples definition of terror, but was he really evil?
Max Manus, a Norwegian resistance leader whose Oslo Gang sank so many German warships, blew up so many German planes and kept Norwegian spirits so high during the Nazi occupation in World War II that he became a national hero, died on Friday, The Associated Press reported. He was 81.
Once he and a countryman had parachuted safely into the countryside outside Oslo and been supplied with hundreds of pounds of explosives and other provisions in follow-up air drops, there was hardly a day that the Germans did not feel their sting.
Although his chief target was German shipping in the Oslo harbor, Mr. Manus, who sometimes spent days under stinking piers waiting for cargo ships to tie up and who claimed even a battleship among his prizes, blew up virtually any German military or industrial target he encountered, including more than 100 German warplanes.
Max Manus, 81, Dies - Fought Nazis in Occupied Norway - Obituary; Biography - NYTimes.com