The Difference Between Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism

You might have sometimes noticed the similarities between guerrilla warfare and terrorism. Both of them are fighting for a cause, and both of them use different forms of violence to get their message across. These do often create confusion which can then lead to them having an ignorant view on guerrilla fighters.

Dictionary.com defines Guerrilla Warfare as:

"the use of hit-and-run tactics by small, mobile groups of irregular forces operating in territory controlled by a hostile, regular force".

Meanwhile, Dictionary.com describes Terrorism as:

"the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes".

These definitions should already help you understand the difference more between the pair. Guerrilla warfare only occurs when there is an opposing, governmental force in your area. Guerrillas use a variety of tactics like concealment, surprise tactics, sabotaging enemy lines etc. They are usually made up of ordinary civilians. Terrorists want things to change so they try to force their ideas unto people.

 The best example to show the contrast between guerrilla warfare and terrorism would be Viet Cong during the Vietnam War and, quite obviously, Al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. The Viet Cong used different traps and methods to individually attack the members of the US army so they can slowly exhaust their forces. In the end, the US forces retreated and the Viet Cong won over South Vietnam in one of the most spectacular underdog wins of the century.

A lot of people probably already know the story of 9/11 when religious extremists hijacked four planes in 2001. Two went into the Twin Towers, one went into the Pentagon, and the last made an attempt to crash into the Capitol building but the hijackers were overpowered by the passengers and the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Virginia. According to Osama bin Laden, the reason behind the attacks was because of the injustices against the Lebanese and the Palestinians by Israel and the United States. So what did bin Laden do? He decided to let his accomplices kill 2,977 innocent civilians. 

In guerrilla warfare, attacks aren't supposed to be directed towards civilians. It is against their ideologies. The main difference would be that guerrillas aim their attacks towards military personnel while terrorists direct theirs towards anyone, including civilians. But the classic quote states that "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", this still puts the whole terrorist argument into an endless cycle. So I guess this question will never have a stone-cold answer. It all depends out of what perspective you view it in.