Battle of Algiers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Battle of Algiers - Essay Example Terrorist tactics are justified in the context of a war that is a product of colonization and when enemies cannot be differentiated from the masses, although it is not morally acceptable to use terrorist tactics when fighting a terrorist organization because it punishes combatants and non-combatants alike and uses technology to the detriment of the entire colonized people. The tactics of terrorism on both sides of the war are justified because of the nature of the socio-economic and political context of Algeria, where the minority is fighting the colonial rule of France, while France cannot discern combatants from non-combatants. The National Liberation Front or FLN only wanted freedom and autonomy for Algeria. The French, on the contrary, acted as the colonizer, so they aimed to crush the rebellion using all means possible. The FLN knew that it could not defeat the French with a heads-on collision, so it resorted to guerilla tactics, mostly terrorist attacks, to attain the mission of demoralizing the French and inciting the masses to fight their colonial masters. France retaliated to preserve its authority in its colony. It believed that the resistance was composed of the minority, so it felt justified to eliminate the rebels, even if it meant having casualties of non-combatants because of the difficulty of differentiating them from the rebels. It is not morally acceptable to use terrorist tactics, when combating a terrorist organization, because it does not differentiate combatants from non-combatants, thereby killing innocent civilians. The FLN bombed two French cafes and an airport because it knew that it could not conduct an effective offense using direct combat operations. Guerrilla operations would be more effective, even if they were stealthy and undermined the morality of their actions. This included hiding weapons in ordinary places and using women to hide guns under their burka and to launch bombing