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The Terrorist Tactics of Radical Environmentalists
INSIGHT magazine ^ | April 1, 2002 | Sean Higgins

Posted on 04/01/2002 6:08:45 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen

The United States is based upon "murder, exploitation and … genocide." It supports "exploitation" and "slaughter." It engages in "oppression in its sickest forms." It is "the most extreme terrorist organization in planetary history."

It is, in short, an imperialistic "disease." Those are the words not of some foreign terrorist group, but of 29-year-old Craig Rosebraugh in congressional testimony Feb. 12. Rosebraugh is the former spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a radical environmentalist group. According to the FBI, the ELF engages in terrorism (see "FBI Targets Domestic Terrorists").

Since the nation's attention became focused on international terrorism, the domestic variety largely has been forgotten. But it has not vanished. Today, its most virulent form is known as ecoterrorism. Ecoterrorism is a real and increasingly dangerous phenomenon. It is practiced by radical environmentalists and animal-rights activists who reject lawful protest in favor of vandalism and arson. According to federal law enforcement, the two main ecoterrorist groups are the ELF and a closely allied group, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The two groups target facilities they believe exploit nature or animals. Some in that movement have found a sympathetic ear and even financial support from at least one mainstream group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The PETA Website compares the ALF to the French Resistance and the Underground Railroad. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk says the groups have a moral right to their actions. PETA, she says, is happy to contribute to their legal defense. She compared it to helping an orphanage run by al-Qaeda.

"If you bought bricks for an orphanage that doesn't mean you are doing anything that's terroristic. It means, actually, that you are supporting the positive side of something, the same way I support Burger King selling a veggie burger," Newkirk explains. "They are trying to wake up a sleeping public, in their own way."

Together, the ALF and the ELF have committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, resulting in damages in excess of $43 million, according to James Jarboe, FBI Domestic Terrorism Section chief. "They say they've never hurt an individual. So far — knock on wood — they haven't. But that may not last," Jarboe said at a conference in March.

The ELF's most spectacular attack occurred at a ski resort in Vail, Colo., in 1998. Arson destroyed $12 million worth of property. Why did ELF members do it? Because the resort supposedly destroyed lynx habitat. In fact, no lynx had been spotted in the area for 15 years.

In November 1997, the ALF and the ELF jointly claimed credit for burning down a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Oregon. In June 1998, they jointly claimed credit for torching a U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington state. The ELF took sole credit for the December 1998 burning of a U.S. Forest Industries office in Medford, Ore.

Ecoterrorists are suspected in the July 2000 destruction of trees and vehicles at a U.S. Forestry Service Laboratory in Rhinelander, Wis. The ELF also has been linked to other arsons in Oregon, Washington state, New York, Michigan and Indiana, according to the FBI.

The Sept. 11 attacks didn't cause ecoterrorists to lie low. Instead, they have been linked to an arson at a BLM office in Litchfield, Calif., on Oct. 14, 2001. A total of 26 FBI field offices are investigating ecoterrorist incidents.

Most environmental groups shun ecoterrorism, yet the ELF and ALF Websites proudly boast of their destructive actions. The ELF even provides "how-to" information on building incendiary devices.

In his congressional appearance, Rosebraugh was upfront about their tactics. The broader environmental movement has failed, he says. Only activity that goes "beyond the state-sanctioned" can lead to the social change they want.

Federal law-enforcement officials have had only limited success in finding ecoterrorists. There's no apparent hierarchy to take out. Rather, the ELF and the ALF are composed of loosely knit cells. Ecoterrorists are believed to be mostly young radicals involved in regional groups. These cells are found nationwide, but are concentrated in the upper Northwest. They operate in an entrepreneurial manner with local groups choosing their own targets. They later relate the results of their direct actions through e-mail and other covert channels.

"It is up to each of us to take the responsibility ourselves to stop the exploitation of fellow animals," according to the the ALF Website. PETA openly applauds the groups and has in some cases funded its legal expenses. For example, PETA gave more than $70,000 for the defense of Rodney Coronado, an ALF member convicted of a firebombing at Michigan State University. It also has provided thousands of dollars to the defense funds of other avowed ALF members.

PETA gave the ELF $1,500 last April to support "program activities." The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise has asked the IRS to revoke PETA's nonprofit status based on its support of ALF members. PETA dismisses the nonprofit challenge as groundless. It is a politically motivated attack by its critics in the business world, Newkirk says. She says PETA never has funded any illegal activities. It only wanted to ensure that ALF members got fair trials.

"It's kind of frightening the similarities between how they operate and how international terrorists operate," says Mike Burita, a spokesman for the Center for Consumer Freedom. "You have this kind of aboveground organization that says we [PETA] don't participate in this stuff, but we certainly advocate it."

Sean Higgins is a Washington-based writer for Investor's Business Daily.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alfelfpetaterror; ecoterrorism; ecoterrorists; enviralists; gop; ruralcleansing; stopecoterrorism
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1 posted on 04/01/2002 6:08:45 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
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To: Stand Watch Listen
The radical enviornmentalist movement worldwide is comprised of communists and anarchists that will one day resort to tactics similar to terrorists operating around the world today.
2 posted on 04/01/2002 6:11:49 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Rosebraugh is the former spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a radical environmentalist group.

Oh, I always thought they were Dumb Wiccans And Radical Feminists (DWARF). Oh well.

3 posted on 04/01/2002 6:12:23 AM PST by Anamensis
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Here is the result of PETA's latest economic terrorists acts:

PETA using Je$$e extortion tactics has forced Burger King to start selling a PETA Peat moss non burger. A safe bet would be that every PETA Peat moss non burger purchased by BK sends money to PETA. Then PETA will send that money to ALF/ELF to finance more eco terrorism against America!

Here is the link to PETA's outrageous site bragging about their accomplished shakedown of BK and how Wendy's is next: (Murderking.com)

4 posted on 04/01/2002 6:22:27 AM PST by Grampa Dave
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To: Stand Watch Listen
These are the sort of people for which silenced .22s are made. Things that go pop in the night...
5 posted on 04/01/2002 6:27:02 AM PST by Noumenon
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To: Stand Watch Listen

6 posted on 04/01/2002 6:29:33 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Noumenon; Stand Watch Listen; Sungirl
These are the same people that kidnapped and branded an investigative reporter in England who infiltrated one of their cells and exposed their tatics. They are dangerous individuals who are as rabidly convinced of the righteousness of their anit-hunting and anti-human ideology as the 9/11 terrorists were of their anti-American views.

And there is only one way to fight them - thankfully hunters have been known to carry firearms...

7 posted on 04/01/2002 7:00:40 AM PST by Abundy
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To: Stand Watch Listen
bttt
8 posted on 04/01/2002 7:04:30 AM PST by SuperLuminal
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To: Stand Watch Listen
The United States is based upon "murder, exploitation and … genocide." It supports "exploitation" and "slaughter." It engages in "oppression in its sickest forms." It is "the most extreme terrorist organization in planetary history."

If this were true, we wouldn't be listening to Craig say anything.

9 posted on 04/01/2002 7:22:38 AM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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bttt
10 posted on 04/01/2002 1:24:02 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen
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To: *Enviralists;farmfriend;editor-surveyor
Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.
11 posted on 04/01/2002 1:51:19 PM PST by Free the USA
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bttt
12 posted on 06/25/2002 1:05:10 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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bttt
13 posted on 06/28/2002 1:27:07 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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bttt
14 posted on 10/06/2002 4:14:44 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Terriergal; Tennessee_Bob; Uncle Meat
BUMP
15 posted on 10/06/2002 4:20:06 PM PDT by shaggy eel
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The radical enviornmentalist movement worldwide is comprised of communists and anarchists that will one day resort to tactics similar to terrorists operating around the world today.

Most likely.

Isn't it telling to see who's falling onto which side of that Big Line that we can no longer deny is there?

16 posted on 10/06/2002 4:20:52 PM PDT by justsomedude
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To: shaggy eel
The cockroaches seem to be crawling out the woodwork these days.They would have had serious political clout if Owl Gore had been elected.He'd be bending over for them in a minute.
17 posted on 10/06/2002 6:13:33 PM PDT by Uncle Meat
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To: Stand Watch Listen; Cyrano; Tennessee_Bob; Crowcreek; Gun142; Son of Rooster; dorben; ...
The United States ...is "the most extreme terrorist organization in planetary history."
It is, in short, an imperialistic "disease." Those are the words not of some foreign terrorist group, but of 29-year-old Craig Rosebraugh in congressional testimony Feb. 12. Rosebraugh is the former spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a radical environmentalist group.

Hey, I could sort of see his point... Didn't Bush say that those that harbor terrorists are no better than the terrorists themselves? Maybe we should kick out ELF and their ilk then. Problem solved.

18 posted on 10/07/2002 12:21:00 PM PDT by Terriergal
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To: Terriergal
Maybe we should kick out ELF and their ilk then. Problem solved.

Got my vote for that.

19 posted on 10/07/2002 2:13:36 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER
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