Click and wait.
Posted on 09/27/2003 2:05:28 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Of the many questions asked in the aftermath of 9/11, one of the most prominent has been: ``Why didn't we see this coming?''
After all, the World Trade Center was targeted by al Qaeda as early as 1993, and attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa and on the USS Cole followed in the ensuing years. In retrospect, there was ample warning of trouble ahead.
In contemplating how to prevent future terrorist attacks on the United States, we should bear in mind that the Islamic terrorism of Osama bin Laden isn't the only threat to life and property posed by extremist groups. We've got some homegrown terrorists of our own.
For years, the Earth Liberation Front has been carrying out acts of violence all across the United States. The FBI believes that the domestic activists have committed more than 600 such acts over the last seven years and have caused about $43 million in damages.
In 1999, ELF set fire to a ski resort at Vail Mountain in Colorado, inflicting an estimated $12 million in damages. Arson also was the tool of choice when ELF activists torched an apartment complex under construction in San Diego, causing $50 million in damages.
This year has also seen a dramatic rise in attacks on automobile dealerships around the country.
A dealership in Erie, Pa. came under assault in January by ELF terrorists who burned SUVs. In August, vandals set fire to 20 Hummers in West Covina, Calif., causing at least $1 million in damages. This month, an SUV dealership in Houston was struck by domestic terrorists who shot out windows on 22 vehicles and slashed dozens of tires.
The use of firearms against the Houston dealership marked a stark escalation in the level of violence perpetrated by the self-proclaimed defenders of the environment.
While some might try to dismiss these actions as mere ''vandalism'' best left to the local police, the attacks carried out by eco-terrorists are occurring nationwide by groups determined to strike anywhere, any time.
`Economic sabotage'
Their targets range from resorts and restaurants to farms, medical facilities and vehicle dealerships. How seriously we should take them is best seen in their own words.
When ELF's website was still accessible, the group said it ``uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the destruction of the natural environment.''
Even more threatening is an e-mail sent to Bite Back magazine from the Animal Liberation Front warning Chiron Corp., a California-based biomedical research firm, ''This is the endgame for the animal killers, and if you choose to stand with them, you will be dealt with accordingly. There will be no quarter given, no more half measures taken.'' Two pipe bombs had previously been detonated near the company's corporate headquarters.
While the recent wave of attacks has yet to claim any lives, these groups' willingness to use arson, firearms and pipe bombs to deliver their message tells us all we need to know about their respect for life and property.
How safe can America's 24 million SUV owners feel knowing that their vehicles have attracted the ire of arsonists?
The beast of eco-terrorism walks among us. It's time for the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and state and local lawenforcement officials to deal with this threat before lives are needlessly lost.
Bonner R. Cohen is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research.
Taken at face value, most Americans agree with the "elves." A Los Angeles Times survey found that, even among conservative Republicans, two out of three people believe that the environment is more important than property rights, corporate profits or even creating jobs. Virtually everyone acknowledges that human-generated pollution is affecting the environment: only eight percent of Americans think that global warming is a myth. (The United States produces more greenhouse gases, both per capita and overall, than any other nation, making it largely responsible for climate change.) ***
Anti-SUV query: "What would Jesus drive?"
The Environmental Justice Working Group
Who let the dogs out? Scientific American has sicced the big dogs on Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg for having the audacity to publish a highly referenced book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist," which argues that global warming and many other environmental "threats" are overblown. What gives?
Scientific American now joins the magazines Science and Nature in blasting Mr. Lomborg. They all editorialize that his "book is a failure" and call out four well-traveled attack dogs from the Washington big government/greenie/lefty establishment in support. They include:***
The above illustrates the newest spin on an old, old advertising technique for convincing people to "just go along because 'everyone else believes it...'"
Probably the most visible exemplar of this technique is Katy Curic, with her "Many people believe..." lead-in to convince viewers that if they don't agree, they are in a foolish minority.
But let's play along for a minute-- suppose a family loses its house- what do you reckon the parents will tell the kids when they are tossed to the curb? We're helping the environment?
Or, say Daddy loses his job? Same answer?
This garbage does not stand up to common-sense questions...
But instead of teaching kids how to think, they teach this garbage.
Click and wait.
100 % agreement bump!!!
That is truly one of the most bizzare episodes I can remember- I guess it's just because I grew up around heavy construction and building, but to me anyone playing chicken with a bulldozer is a damned fool.
When the Feds mandated backup alarms on construction machinery, we made a lot of jokes about how they were eliminating the "Idiot Removal Mechanism"-- because in the days before alarms, you were expected to pay close attention to any machine you were near- particulary if it was ahead or behind you, where it could run you down.
Human life is more important then a cooked SUV - even a scumbag criminal's. Excessive punishment - and capital punishment for this certainly applies - makes martyrs. Martyrs inspire more arson.
No, more should go to the interdiction of these firebugs. Fast and comprehensive action making anyone think long and hard before doing this is the best approach.
These crimes are ignorant and frustrating, but if our system and freedoms are worth fighting for, we shouldn't ignore these crimes in their context against other crimes, and how case law - or 'Stare Decisis' says they have been handled in the past.
Not all human life is of great value - certainly the punk that would try to torch my vehicle is of absolutely no value to me, and of little value to society as a whole. Its common to overestimate the value of the dregs of society.
Death is a deterrent - martyrs are only inspirational when the "inspired" stand little chance of becoming one themselves.
These crimes are ignorant and frustrating, but if our system and freedoms are worth fighting for, we shouldn't ignore these crimes in their context against other crimes, and how case law - or 'Stare Decisis' says they have been handled in the past.
Freedom to destroy other people's property should not supercede that person's right to use whatever means necessary to protect that property. Without property rights, our society creeps into anarchy. The Roman empire employed case law over the years - it no longer exists.
Teach the children and the parents how to think, how to identify the threat, and how to shoot the threat when it shows its face attempting to commit a crime.
Thanks for making me smile.
I respectfully disagree.
Arsonists should be burned at the stake, at the scene of the crime, preferably while the ashes are still warm.
And if we kill for that crime that angers you most, should others then kill those who commit those crimes that anger them?
Only a dictatorship can deal as efficiently with arsonists as you suggest. I still support due process, and the messiness of our governent in this Republic we live in.
Your emotional polarity against these people is not a compelling argument to lynch and kill arsonists. With all due respect, mind you.
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