What Defines Terrorism?

“……If we don’t, we’ll die!”

Three minutes later, they were gone.

Back up approximately one hour in time…

I was riding in an elevator in the federal building where I worked, when another federal employee asked me, “Have you heard about what just happened?” I responded no. She said, “Someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center.” As I walked into the U.S. Marshals office, my supervisor was rolling out a television set on a cart, plugged it in, and turned it on. Soon, we watched in real time as a second plane flew into the South Tower.

It was a surreal sight, yet my experience was not unique. Millions of Americans have a similar story to share about September 11, 2001.

So what makes terrorism different from other uses of deadly force that many of us with military training and experience would consider legitimate?

During my years in the military, training in unconventional warfare, I learned there is a key distinction between legitimate warfare and terrorist attacks. I am not speaking about the ideologies behind military actions, as those are often shaped by culture and circumstance. I am speaking of something that defines moral value—something that, in my view, every decent individual should recognize. That distinction is this: terrorism deliberately targets non-participants, while legitimate military force attempts to avoid such casualties whenever possible.

This week, I visited the memorial for United Flight 93 for the first time. I was affected more than I expected. I looked at the displays. I listened to recordings left by passengers reaching out to loved ones, knowing they likely had minutes to live. I reviewed some of the effort that went into what became the largest FBI investigation in history.

As some of the passengers rammed the cockpit door with a food cart in an attempt to regain control of the aircraft, in the final minutes of their lives, one man called out—later captured on the cockpit recording—“In the cockpit. If we don’t, we’ll die!” Courage and a warrior spirit, exhibited by ordinary Americans in a fight for their lives.

Osama bin Laden, in a 1998 interview with ABC-TV, said, “We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets.” *

Spoken like a true coward.

My prayer is that each of us, as we approach Easter Sunday, and as citizens of a nation built on freedom, rule of law, hard work, and the pursuit of our dreams, takes a more critical look at what we see and read online—rather than accepting it simply because it supports a narrative—and strives to find more common ground.

*9/11 Commission Report, page 47