Environmental Group Says It Burned Houses Tue May 27, 9:18 AM ET SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. - The radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front is claiming responsibility for fires that destroyed two houses near Ann Arbor in March. The slogan "ELF, no sprawl" was spray painted on the garage door of a house next to one of those burned March 21 in the Mystic Forest subdivision. On its Web site, the group claims responsibility for the fires, which it says caused $400,000 in damage. The group also takes responsibility for burning luxury homes being built near Philadelphia late last year. A picture of a burning home is featured on the Web site, along with instructions on how to start fires. The group says no one has claimed responsibility for last summer's fires that destroyed two luxury homes under construction, but police said they suspect the ELF. The FBI (news - web sites) has said it considers the Earth Liberation Front one of the nation's most prolific domestic terrorist organizations. The group has claimed responsibility for a series of antigrowth attacks in the past six years. A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to an e-mail address listed on the group's Web site but its Web site says it "uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the destruction of the natural environment." Superior Township Fire Marshal Wayne Dickinson, whose department usually fights about three accidental house fires a year, said the arsons have people on edge. "All of the builders are on pins and needles," he said. "They are getting security dogs and hiring people to sit in their houses because of what's going on." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...6&u=/ap/20030527/ap_on_re_us/torched_houses_2 Many of our leftist friends here may want to leave these guys alone out of sympathy for their cause. I'm sure you can guess where I stand. What do you think?
Take 'em out. These loony groups do more harm to their cause than anything else anyway (similar to terrorist groups in the more traditional sense).
I'd be very surprised if any left-leaning posters on this board supported this and thought that they should go unpunished.
Aren't we already "going after" these guys? After all, what they are doing is already illegal and I'm sure they have police-men doing what they can to arrest them.
And police - dogs too..But the question is should these guys be considered as criminals or terrorists.
Are they committing crimes? Yes Are they attempting to incite fear through these criminal acts? Yes. They are both criminals and terrorists. Perhaps the US should drop a "Daisy Cutter" or MOAB on a Michigan forest and defoliate a few hundred acres in retaliation? (((That is a joke!)))
Arsonists commonly set fires that get out of control and burn unintended properties too. Arson is a serious crime..can result in death or injury to sleeping occupants, by standers, fire fighters, etc..The loss of property is absorbed by all the people who have homes ..rich or poor, when insurance rates go up. Serial arsonists should be locked up forever, throw away the keys..They same goes for these nuts.. arsonists or terrorists? Who cares! They should be locked up with the serial arsonists in the same cell ..for life.
While I'd agree that willful arson is a serious crime deserving of serious punishment, I think the treatment you've suggested is more severe than would fit the crime. After all, if an arsonist does kill someone in a fire, he can be charged with murder as well as arson and possibly get the life sentence you've proposed. But, I wonder about the term terrorist. Certainly, ELF is a terrorist organization just like Al Queda -- they use violence to in an attempt to coerce a political reaction. But, other than how much manpower we need to throw at this or that problem, I don't see how there is much actual difference between terrorism and crime. The things terrorists do are already illegal -- we just have to catch them and prosecute them.
JuanValdez: You have answered your own question here, JV. The difference between terrorism and simple crime is in the intent. In a crime the motive is usually personal gain in some form or another - personal satisfaction, revenge, monetary gain, etc - it's usually something someone does for themselves. In terrorism the motivation is relatively selfless (don't read that the wrong way); the goal is to effect political, economic, and/or social change - the goal is to change some aspect of society, not some aspect of one's own existence. To change things for everybody. Of course, keep in mind that all terrorists are criminals. Not all criminals are terrorists. What makes one both is the motivation for committing their crimes - what exactly they want to change. Themselves, or everyone around them? Why is killing someone in a terrorist act more serious or different than killing someone in a criminal act? If there is a difference, the question is far more philosophical in nature, and probably quite irrelevant to both this discussion and the victim. It is also a different question. Do I think that we should be sending CIA hit teams after these guys? Probably not, as willful murder does not appear to be part of their MO at this point. But I'd like to see more FBI manpower dedicated to it. They are definitely terrorists by the traditional definition, and they have been doing this crap for way too long.
