This four-page undergraduate paper examines terrorism and al-Qaeda. The author notes that terrorists are motivated by perceptions of victimization, are encouraged by religious fanatics, and are spurred into action by a self-righteous and irrational determination to act as avenging martyrs of Allah and defenders of Islam. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are intent upon destroying Western civilization, and if that ultimate goal cannot be accomplished, they would settle for expelling infidels from the Muslim world, which they consider holy land reserved only for Muslims.
