Terrorists admit their harm because they compare it favorably against oppressors’ suffering.

Evidence

Advantageous comparison is an especially important mode of self-exoneration from the harm terrorists cause because they acknowledge responsibility for it. From the terrorists’ perspective, the harm their attacks cause pales when compared with the widespread suffering inflicted on downtrodden people by oppressive power holders who are often backed by foreign patrons. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2149

Categorization

• XREF: Advantageous comparison as a mechanism joins the moral-disengagement catalogue already built in earlier chapters; this is the specific case where the perpetrator embraces responsibility rather than displacing it.