Earlier today both the Director of the FBI and the Attorney General appeared at a conference to herald their latest triumph in the war on terror. 11 people were arrested in connection with a series of firebombings across a multitude of western states. Their actions destroyed property but led to no deaths, or even injuries. Robert Mueller identified "those who commit crime and terrorism in the name of animal rights or environmental issues" as one of the bureau's "highest domestic terrorism priorities." Let's meditate on that for just a second.
Join me below.
My question then is do the ELF and ALF warrant the attention they have been given by the government? Why does the governemnt feel so threatened by these groups and relative loners who have not yet killed a single person and have actively tried to avoid just such a thing?
This must be merely more political posturing. The FBI has for some time now considered ecoterrorists its highest priority doemstic terrorism targets. After 9/11 there were at least a few media stories in which this fact was stated. A quick jog of the memory would quickly reveal to most people the destruction that can be wrought by homegrown terrorists. Oklahoma City. But this heinous act was not perpetrated by an ecoterrorist, rather by a military veteran with roots in the militia and white supremacy movement(s). Since Oklahoma City more than a few people of the anti-government/right-wing militia/neo-Nazi/"Christian Identity" have been arrested with large caches of weapons and active plots against U.S. government and civilian targets. I encourage interested readers to consult the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League websites for more information.
So why is it that when arrests are made, like the one of William Krar who was found in possession of "an arsenal of more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 65 pipe bombs and remote control briefcase bombs, and almost 2 pounds of sodium cyanide, enough to make a bomb that could kill everyone in a large building" there was no high level press conference in Washington? Instead it recieved little news coverage and was quickly swept aside. Judging by his sentence, 11 years, he apparently took a deal (perhaps the government was eager to avoid a trial?). I think it is because of which part of the political spectrum each set of people is associated with. People who would fight violently for the environment and animal rights are undoubtedly aligned with the left. As much as we would like to distance ourselves from their tactics, the fact is that the left tends to be for envoronmental conservation and to some degree animal rights, and ELF's tactics might even appeal to some leftists in the Democratic camp. As well, the right wing shares values and ideas with the militant right wing. Shades of racism and anti-government ideology permeate the Republican Party (remember the Willie Horton ads, the welfare queen, and "government is the problem"). Thus, the right that is in power overlaps to some degree with the aforementioned ultra-far-right. With these press conferences and the nonsensical and exclusive domestic focus on the eco/animal groups, it seems highly obvious that the administration is trying to make the argument that environmentalism and animal welfare concerns lead to violence and property destruction and upset the status quo. By downplaying militancy on the right (which is a far more violent movement) the administration wants to limit friction within its own party and movement. Even in the case of Fatherland - I mean Homeland - security these people can not put politics and the pursuit of power aside.
Basically it's all bullshit. Can you really believe at face value anything this government tells us anymore?
Apparently my point has been missed. I don't give a shit whether ELF and ALF are terrorists. Do they fucking warrant the attention that they have been given by this government, taking into account the relative danger of other extremist factions?