Analysis: Can Suicide Attacks Ever Be Morally Justified?

Can suicide attacks ever be morally justified?

When the question of can suicide attacks ever be morally justified crosses one’s mind, one’s implicit association could be that it is immoral and therefore cannot be morally justified. How can the killing of others along with oneself ever be considered moral? In the Judeo-Christian tradition, suicides/murders are considered a sin where one believes that one’s life is a property of God; is sacred, thus it cannot be violated. The reasons to why suicide attacks are perceived as repugnant in the secular world are obvious.

Suicide attacks violate the natural law of self-preservation. Self-preservation is an instinctive drive for one to preserve one’s existence and therefore it would be considered immoral

The transaction between the attacker and the enemy is indirect, because the victim(s) are used as “scapegoats” in order for the attacker to manipulate the enemy. For an example in this case, the Al Qaeda (Attacker) used this technique by launching attacks on various locations and killing many civilians (Victims) to indirectly attack their main target, the US (Enemy). Therefore, the presence of the scapegoat theory in Al Qaeda’s suicide attack, cannot morally justify it.

Secondly, the Al Qaeda’s suicide attack on the US cannot be morally justified because the Al Qaeda took advantage of their pre-existing disadvantage they had towards the US. William Graham Summer once said “The advantage of some is won by an equivalent loss of others. The Al Qaeda is at disadvantage in terms of weapons, finance and the magnitude of their military organisation as compared to the US’. However, the violation of a pre-existing disadvantage can result in an ‘unfair advantage” of the situation. For an example, the “unfair advantage” of the Al Qaeda is that they can use suicide attacks but the US cannot. This is not because the US do not have the resources or they doubt its effectiveness. In fact, they see it as a dominant threat but their foundational moral standards disregards it. Therefore the act of violating a pre-existing disadvantage by the