The terrorist act not only delegitimizes the existing system by denying its values, it simultaneously confirms its own values. In addition, epideictic rhetoric plays an important role in justifying terrorism, although such justification may not have been the actual motivation. Further, terrorists often perceive themselves as reflecting the existing rhetoric: terror is seen as an appropriate response to the terror of the opposition. Similarly, because rhetoric is a dialog in which the responding rhetor tends to reflect the attack, there is likelihood that the response to terrorist violence will be a counterattack. 54 notes.