Domestic Terrorism (Earth Liberation Front) - Research Paper Example

 Domestic Terrorism Terrorism as a topic is one that requires little explanation in today’s context. Every country in the world has experienced and still experiencing some form of terrorism. The word terrorism in the dictionary however covers a much wider range of terror than what the people are accustomed to. Anything that uses terror or induces fear in the minds of people in order to achieve its own end is termed terrorism. When looked at in such a broad sense there are many instances of terrorism, domestically and locally that cannot be ignored. This article deals with Domestic terrorism in the United States and picks Earth Liberation Front as one of them. The article examines the main concept; trend; growth principle; and how even such groups which fight against real threats and dangers to our eco-system and without any political involvement can still prove to be a potential danger in the future. Principle behind the Earth Liberation Front Earth Liberation Front as the name suggests is involved in the conservation of the earth and anything that is seen as a threat to the earth at large is considered a threat and something that needs to be put down by force. The organization is a potentially leaderless organization and works on a Phantom structure comprising of animal rights, environmental and eco-conservation activists. Many covert cells act independently and propagate this principle of earth conservation. The past two decades has seen the rise of many environmental activists like Greenpeace and Animal Liberation Front (ALF) where the main concern and topic has been the protection of earth and conserving the environment from damages caused by human beings mainly either directly or indirectly. The Earth Liberation Front however takes a lot more than just the topic in their hands and is involved in aggressive methods to fight against anyone or anything that adds to or contributes to this rape of mother earth. The targets of Earth Liberation Front are Urbanisation, pollutants that range from Sports utility vehicle sales to industrialization, genetic engineering of humans, crops and animals, deforestation and a range of activities that can contribute towards the pillage of Green Earth. The members of this organization are independent operatives with similar goals that take it upon themselves to fight for conservation and against events that will take earth to mass-extinction. In this sense they do not theoretically belong to an organization but are more categorized under activists groups that share a corporate logo. So far their acts of arson and aggression has not caused any loss of human lives. Nevertheless it still gets listed under terrorism, as there is a potential danger to human lives. The way the group make their voices heard is by causing extensive economic damage to people or organizations that are suspected of or directly involved in destructive industrialization. Their ways includes and not restricted to burning of SUV’s, destruction of property or disabling any business involved in either injuring animals, people or earth in their clinical or scientific research or course of work. Origins and Growth The actual origin of the movement is somewhat ambiguous. Many connect Earth Liberation Front to the Earth First and regard it as an offshoot of this single cell organization, which was started by Dave Foreman in Brighton in the United Kingdom in 1992 along the same lines. Rumour also has it (and also stated in their website) that the Earth Liberation Front is a branch of a movement called Environmental Life Force, started by John Hanna in 1977 in the United States and his group expanded, popularized, and diversified with links with other groups like Earth First. The main principles of the Earth Life Force and Earth First movement were no damage or no violence or aggressive action. As it grew in popularity however many radical thinking individuals wanted to drive the point home a bit more forcefully and saw that as the only way to make their cause Internationally known. It was the unanimously decided that any kind of aggressive action or Arson will be done under a new movement called the Earth Liberation Front as they will be called as thereafter and will have no connection to Earth First, thus maintaining the legitimacy of Earth First as an organization. Don Liddick mentions in his book “ that an organization that professes legitimacy by its conformity to nonviolence has in its own right subconsciously stopped being a legitimate organization”(2006). A legitimate organization with cause would not need to put down such decisive actions as ways of describing their concept. Using this shield of legitimacy however the group campaigned and aggressively got spread their message. The movement grew in popularity very quickly and gained popularity in European cities like France, Netherlands, and Amsterdam among others. Destruction of public property was rampant and justified as the only means of driving their point across. There were incidences of minor disturbances to public property to burning of whole buildings and destroying means of profit making for many corporate organizations. Examples being the graffiti proclamations in the premises of McDonalds to the burning of the ski resort at Vail Mountain in California as a protest against its expansion. The justification was that most of these acts did not cause any harm to human lives and the premises were checked for human and animals inhabitants before performing such acts. Similar acts of arson have been reported in the United States including burning of a mink farm, a fur farm and burning of SUV’s. The first ever arrests for damage of public property was made in 1994 in Europe. The activists did not show any political affiliations nor were they protesting against anything political. They were hence just classified as irrational public behaviours and treated as regular public offenders. The events had definitely created public uproar and international recognition but because of the nature of their operations, there was not enough evidence to brand them as terrorists. There was also the issue of not being able to classify their acts under acts of terrorism, as they did not follow the conventional protocols of terrorist organizations. Soon there arose another independent operative of the Earth Liberation Front, The Earth Liberation Front Press office, which reported all news about the group and functioned as the voice behind the group. It became a vehicle for the arrested members of the group to communicate to the World and propagate from their prison cells. What started as a non-violent activist group of street protestors and ralliers had now developed into a full-blown threat to the nations as a whole. In March 2001, as the incidences of destruction continued, Earth Liberation Front was taken more of a serious threat and the Federal Bureau of Investigation marked Earth Liberation Front as one of the foremost threats of domestic terrorism in the United States The dangers of Radical thinking: Where do you draw the line? Terrorism arises from strong thinking, emotional attachment to a cause and a desire to act against behaviour or actions that go against one’s position in a critical issue or against those who hold an opinion that’s different from self. In case of eco-terrorism is that done against environment and begins as a move towards radical thinking. Before we assess the morality and conviction of people who have taken up arms against the perpetrators of the earth’s seemingly doomed future or the doom to human existence, we do need to consider the harmful effects of non-institutionalised radical thinking. The Earth Liberation Front has in many ways gone against their original principle and strayed away from the original concept behind it and the reason for the formation of their group. They were ironically also one of the first eco-liberating activists groups that resorted to non-eco friendly methods of propagating their viewpoints. The use of explosives and inflammable means to drive their point across has contributed to the pollution that they strived to fought against. When we look at one of the acts of terror they indulged in, the incident at Vail Mountain illustrates this point. The original reason behind the Earth Liberation Front fighting against the expansion of the ski resort is because this expansion would have compromised the natural habituated of the surrounding region. The expansion would have been done by the felling of some of the lynx vegetation native to that region. However by burning the property the Earth Liberation Front activists not only added to air pollution but also caused extensive damage to the same lynx vegetation that they sought to conserve. We have seen evidence of this kind of convolutions in the history of any aggression. There comes a time when the people fighting lose track of what they are fighting for. In the case of Earth Liberation Front there is also the additional danger of the organization being leaderless. There is no central governing body that these activists are answerable to. Every organization whether they are geared towards preservation, civil disobedience, organized crime or terrorism, there needs to be a governing body that can give structure to it. Although they share a common cause there is a sense of complete anarchism within the group ideals. How can an eco-conservation group work solely on independent cells that do not fall under any jurisdiction or criterion? While not in any way supporting it, this article has to look at terrorism from an organizational standpoint to understand the argument here. When you look beyond the obvious objective of terrorism as a means of inducing terror to obtain one’s means, we cannot ignore the organization and unity that goes into building a cause and impose it. In most cases of terrorism there is a religious or communal cause behind it and stems from a deep passion, fanaticism or history of oppression. From that perspective, how dangerous is something like this? An organized terrorist wing comprises of fanatics with a deep feeling for the cause. There is no evidence of these self-professed activists of Earth Liberation Front of having any background in environmental studies. Their means of communicating their cause is proof of that. Organized terrorists groups due to the strong affiliations still manage to leave a trail, despite the covert nature of their operations. In single cell groups such as this one, a single or a series of arrests still does not contribute much towards the end of the aggression and a few activists in jail still does not mean that the issue has been arrested, leave alone uprooted. Another event will spring up without leaving any obvious trail and the terror continues on. The group initially started as activists and serious minded individuals who were committed to the cause of preservation be it animal, human life or environment. The concept spread and likeminded individuals joined in. But it started manifesting into more of a cult and all original ties were denied although not completely broken. Such a diversification based only on radical thinking can often spread and root itself as a cult culture. This is dangerous and can spread like wild fire if not curbed right at the beginning and will destroy more than what the cause by itself set out to protect. The scary part is that Earth Liberation Front or its predecessors, Earth First or Earth Life Force are far removed from the violence and condemns it whilst not completely withdrawing its support. How does one tackle a situation where there is no organization or a movement that lacks a sense of accountability? Terrorism is purpose centric and to some extent predictable. Organized terrorism leaves a trail and easily traceable. The same cannot be said of criminal behaviour. It is difficult to predict criminal behaviour cloaked under terrorism. The danger here is that the government’s attempts to quell such careless acts of aggression limited to only property damage, before it leads to human danger accidental or intentional. In 2001 Earth Liberation Front created a stir when they inserted spiked into the trees in Nex Perez National forest to stop the felling of trees for lumber purposes. It was seen as a threat to the eco-system and rightfully so. But the spikes in the trees not only caused extensive damage to the lumber equipments but also ran the risk of causing damage to humans operating such heavy machinery. How can this threat be quelled without raising a new wave of rebellion amongst activist groups with similar ideals but completely different operational and enforcement tactics? The United States congress formulated an Animal Enterprise protection Act by in the year 1992. It was enforced and made a federal offence to disrupt operational activities, damage property or cause bodily harm to any animal enterprise. It proposed severe fines and imprisonment for those who engaged in such activities and hoped to deter future activists from indulging in such activities. The enforcement did prove effective in breaking the resolve of some of the activists or propagators of the Earth Liberation group. Many were willing to cooperate with the officials and expose other members of the group. However as Tad Nilson and Todd Burke illustrate in their article on eco terrorism published in the year 2002, this cannot and did not pave the way for much long-term effects. The ones who cooperated were just the tip of the iceberg. Serious Activists at large as we have seen in history know that these things are part and parcel of their life choice as activists. Eco-terrorism is a threat regardless. Fighting Eco-Terrorism Most government bodies and law enforcement legislatures insist on a very strict and unrelenting stance towards eco-terrorism. As we have established already, it is a threat that is fast reaching enormous proportions, it is arguable if eco-terrorism can be viewed from a general standpoint of viewing domestic or International terrorism at large. As illustrated above legislatures and enforcing them as law is not the best way to curb or counter this for of terrorism. Although it does not debate that some strict measures are required, we also have to consider some other course of action to curb and counter this kind of terrorism. It is important to firstly acknowledge that there are substantial grounds to justify the rise of environmental activists. The threat to the environment is real and not to be viewed lightly. By acknowledging that from the legislative standpoint it may be more effective to isolate conservationists from terrorists. Right now the thin line between the two is somewhat erased by group loyalty. Corporate organizations and others who have faced and are at the risk of facing eco-terrorism must also consider their role in conserving the environment. By paying attention to some basic methods to conserve environment such as avoiding in-discriminatory cutting of trees or use of natural resources can go a long way in appeasing environmental activists. The use of recycled and bio-degradable products, curbing of excessive usage of artificial sources of power and capitalizing on available natural resources an all go a long way in fighting this terrorism. It is important to understand that this is not a problem only at the national level, the Federal Bureau of investigation needs to spread its networking capabilities and approach it as a problem that stems from a very local perspective. The law enforcement as a unit has a few paradoxes to fight in this issue. The most important duty of any law enforcement body is the protection of people under its jurisdiction. This includes innocent people, rallying activists, animals, corporations and those suspected of being involved in criminal activity. Working from that standpoint they are in a catch 22 situations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation may be able to arrest or stop the growth of this kind of domestic terrorism if they engage in dialogue and work with the local law enforcement authorities. There is a good chance then of them being able to curb such activities right at the onset of it being a minor unrest before it escalates into a full-blown activity of aggression and terrorism. Support groups and psychological interventions can help the victims of eco-terrorism handle such situations better and work on avoiding future happenings. Environmental activists by large are a passionate group of people with a just cause and are dedicated to the propagation of their cause. This does not necessarily equate them to the eco-terrorists in question here. The corruption of this by certain individuals or groups of individuals is what makes it a problem. While we have already established that this kind of terrorism is nor easily traceable. It is possible to trace a pattern by using the same psychological interventions aimed at the victims on suspected eco-terrorists. This psychological derived thereof could help the Federal Bureau of Investigation find a traceable link to others within the group. Therefore it is increasingly essential for law and legislature to approach it from a much broader perspective and spread their network. There is no verifiable evidence that all the points illustrated will work towards freeing the United States of domestic terrorism nor is it a consolidated plan in the complete eradication of eco-terrorism. But by evaluating the variables discussed in this article it is pertinent to assume that it is a good place to start that process from and work to progress in the right direction. The main hurdle, as seen in this article, in the eradication of this kind of terrorism is the inability to isolate cause and concept from execution. Once that is done it is possible to narrow it down to incidents of criminal behaviour, which the law and legislature of the country has already made provisions for. References Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella, (2006). Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth. AK Press Leslie Pickering. (2006) Earth Liberation Front: 1997-2002, Arissa Media Group Don Liddick.(2006). Eco-terrorism: radical environmental and animal liberation movements. Praeger. annotated edition (October 30, 2006)   Chad Nilson and Todd Burke. (2002). Environmental activists and the Eco Terrorism movement. Radford University, issue 5 Jan/feb 2002. http://www.radford.edu/~tburke/Burke/environmentalextremists.pdf Read More