How far would you support the ELF and their tactics?

[Born_a_Democrat]

Poll question: How far would you support the ELF and their tactics?

Personally I chose "3" I think the tactics are what differentiate between protesters and terrorists...


edit: sorry forgot about the link

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/10/01/eco_terror/index.html

[trotsky]

1. Need some hair-splitting

I would consider the ELF a terrorist organization, except for one thing: they do not kill people. I understand the message, I understand the motivation, and I think people who drive Hummers are the lowest human beings on the planet. HOWEVER, destroying someone's property is NOT COOL, no matter what the reason.

The ELF is much like PETA in my eyes. Most of what they do does far more harm to their cause than good, because of the negative publicity and the ammo given to the right wing to further strengthen their base.

[Walt Starr]

2. Violence is violence

Arson is violence regardless of no people being killed. Arson is a violent crime. Arson is a tacitc of ELF. ELF uses arson as a means to alter political thought, ergo, ELF is a terrorist organization by definition.

Some other domestic terrorist organizations include the KKK, Aryan Nations, Operation Rescue, and Earth First, at least IMO.

[Gringo]

3. The ELF are likely government agents

At least some of them are. Whenever I see some "liberals" or "protesters" acting out violently, I remember back on that "photographer" who followed Abbie Hoffman around, instigating riots and violence, and later at the Chicago 8 trials turned out to be an agent.

The ELFs who are for real are disaffected fools that achieve nothing for their cause.

[amazona]

4. i think they are black ops

The same old stuff from the 1960s and 1970s, now being applied to environmentalists to make them look like freaks.

Your genuine tree-hugger is a peace-loving soul who just wants to be let alone, not an arsonist. So the FBI and whatnot funds some nutcases in order to draw contempt toward the entire cause. You watch and see. In another decade or so, when the right papers are declassified, see if I'm not right.


i think peta is another black ops

[mountebank]

5. Radicals provide legitimacy to more moderate enviros

People are hard-pressed to call the Sierra Club or even Greenpeace radicals with the ELF around. With a point of comparison to real radicals, these legitimate organizations look pretty reasonable to your average citizen. I don´t think the opposite is true: that people lump all enviros together as terrorists because of the ELF. I give people more credit for awareness than that.

Let´s not forget that the ELF is more likely than not just cells of two to four friends who decide to take radical action and tag the name ELF on to it. Hard to penetrate with counterintelligence.