True, it can be a deterrant but I think it depends on who is being killed and in what numbers. In the case of a few high school students being murdered i think it causes more anger than deterance. As for revenge, well if it was me I would get more satisfaction from killing enemy soldiers of the nation involved in the purposeful killing of civilians of my country, and/or from trying to reform the government of that nation. Seeing some random civilians die wouldn't make me feel any better, in fact it would probably make me feel worse.It does give the sweetness of revenge, if nothing else. From a strategic viewpoint, when you show the enemy that you can cause as much damage to their lives when they do yours, it tends to create a deterrance against further enemy attacks. Its like a small scale and unstable MAD.
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