&gt;I don&#x27;t see how this is relevant. We already accept that terrorism is not justifiable, we&#x27;re discussing whether drone strikes are terrorism.<p>I replied to this comment &quot;Ironically, much of the personnel involved in the U.S. drone program lives and works stateside, among the civilian population.&quot; My point is that the fact that drone operators live among civilian population makes no difference since no muslim (or otherwise) terrorists have tried to attack them, thus killing innocents as collateral damage - which is how civilians in Afghanistan or Pakistan are killed.<p>&gt;Because being Muslim is not a terrorist&#x27;s defining characteristic. One defining characteristic would be a disregard for human life.<p>So why are they &#x27;people identifying as Muslims&#x27; instead of &#x27;muslims&#x27;? Are other muslims refusing to accept them as muslim?<p>Separately, their religious identity is their defining characteristic. Same way that communists&#x27; who killed millions in Russia and China political affiliation was fundamental to their identity.<p>While we probably can&#x27;t say this about middle east civil war participants, the muslim terrorists who kill people in the West are driven primarily by their religion. If they weren&#x27;t, they would be small-time crooks or drug dealers at worst. Somehow their religion turned them into murderous psychopaths - let&#x27;s not beat around the bush here.