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True terrorism spawns from desperation. When you have no great army to defend you or your people, you have to use whatever tactics are at your disposal. In the case of real terrorists, we are talking about home made bombs and small arms that are available on the black market. Imagine you live in a small country that is being bullied around by a large country with a great military (not America/Iraq, this is purely hypothetical). Imagine that this country, in it's puchiness, has killed many innocent people. You know what they are doing is wrong, but the rest of the world is either unwilling or unable to stop them or prove their wrong doing. You either lay back and risk death or you fight back. Now, I don't support either side of this equasion. As someone who detests violence and invites peace as much as possible, I'd look for every possible route of negotiation and compromise, but when you are worried for the safety of your and your loved ones, many of us would feel the need to fight back.
This hypothetical man knows that taking on the oppressive army head on would be suicide and would accomplish nothing. He knows that he has to make them want to stop what thery are doing in the most efficent way possible. He must strike fear into the minds of his enemies. Therefore he becomes a terrorist, one who attacks with the goal of spreading fear.
That's how I understand the motivations. (I know I left out religion, but honestly that would have only started an argument and acomplished nothing.)
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