Terrorism and Tamarinds
I was reading a book about terrorism while eating sweet and spicy tamarind candy. The book is titled "What Terrorists Want." The author, Louise Richardson, attempts to demonstrate how, by empathizing with terrorists, we may understand how we may defeat them. The approach is novel and dangerous. It is a promising departure from the common notion that terrorists are either too irrational or too amoral to negotiate with. Richardson argues that terrorism is rational and that terrorists at least believe their acts to be morally justified. It is also dangerous because it can be construed as loving the terrorists. Ender Wiggin said “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him... It’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves." Governments, including and especially the one currently in power in my country, tend t