In the light of the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, i thought I would share a few reflections on which could be the terrorists' main objectives
In the short term (this is a bit of a truism) terrorists aim to terrorise : to force people into changing their lifestyle, into renouncing part of what constitutes (in their eyes) our decadent habits, like going out, partying ; organising free discussions and debates, freely criticising prophets and religions, etc etc
but the longer-term objective are Western Muslim communities. Terrorists want to cause a backlash against Muslims in the West. They hope that, faced with hostility by the population, and perhaps by restrictive measures by Governments, Muslims will feel progressively estranged and marginalized from the wider Western European societies
This is in fact the only hope, for extremist movements, to avoid isolation : if they somehow manage to exacerbate contrasts and hostilities in our societies, to focus populations' resentment against Muslims, they may manage to somehow increase sympathies, by presenting themselves as the only defense of "true believers" against the "kuffar"
For this reason, IMHO it is essential that we stand without hesitation behind the principle of non-discrimination. There is no such thing in our societies as "collective guilt". Any Muslim, just like any other citizen, is strictly responsible for his/her actions only
Let us make no unnecessary gifts to the terrorists by presenting them with some (even vague) justification for their crimes. We have our own values, and for this reason we consider our societies to be the best thing going (as far as societies go).
Let us not supply any shadow of an argument to terrorists.