Why terrorists target attack soft targets?

I was just reading B Raman's views on the subject and although he might be right, I felt that the seriousness of the matter was lost in dramatics. So I decided to publish my own views and opinions.

Why terrorists attack soft targets?

1. Its easy - terrorists chooses the place of attack as per their convenience.
2. Its not dangerous - they are not facing armed opponents.
3. It causes panic. Killing Army men won't cause panic short of war.
4. It attracts more media attention. How much coverage is given to a truck carrying 100 CRPF men killed in landmine blast?
   

Why do you think terrorists always claim responsibility for their attacks? Indian Mujaheddin has been mailing the proofs too. One should never presume what terrorists want to achieve through their actions. The best example for taking Maoist terrorism lightly is Nepal. So why? Its because they don't consider themselves villains, they are the heroes. And they are fighting against the villains which is usually the government of the land.

First law of war - attack where it hurts your enemy most. It will weaken the enemy making him incapable to retaliate. The focus of the enemy will then be to defend.

And how to do that - kill innocents, cause widespread panic, let the blame game and speculation starts. Make the government (and people) - not feel - believe that terrorists can attack at any place and at any time. (It also gets media attention and with the help of sympathizers they can give voice to their demands.)

Thus the hope will die, and people will become ready to try to deal with the terrorists across the board. People will believe that no price is too high to achieve peace "if their family and they are safe".

Do you think in such a scenario country or religion or even freedom of expression will come to your mind before safety of you and your family?

It usually doesn't matter to people who is ruling the country on any given day. What matters to them is whether they are safe and free, where the degree of freedom can be compromised to some extent. Given a choice what will you choose - to be safe or to govern?

Its a game and only best player wins. The worse part of this game is we cannot decide that we don't want to play - either we play and try to win or we loose.
Terrorists know their game and strategy. Do we know it? And do we know how to counter it?