First of all, one of the primary reasons for terrorism is to scare the victims to the point of pressuring their own government. have we put pressure on our government in favor of the terrorists? not that i know of. my history teacher gave us a more full explanation of the motivations last year; unfortunately i don't really remember it, but it was more complicated than 'killing infidels.'
and the quote doesn't apply. complex doesn't mean rational.
however, i think the rationale behind terrorism is surprisingly good. step 1: attack a population and make the motivation for the attack known. step 2: continue attacking until the population breaks down and pressures its government to change, achieving the original goal. but it's very difficult for terrorists to make their cause known and continue the attacks, which is why terrorism rarely works.