FIRING LINE:

Some "terrorism" justified
June 11, 2001

Zach Calef's Guest column on the Earth Liberation Front ("Environment wackos hurt more than help" June 7) falsely represented the actions, history and philosophy of the organization.

The Earth Liberation Front has used property destruction to inflict millions of dollars worth of damage on industries that profit from destruction of the planet, including the fur industry and research on genetically-engineered organisms.

This has directly impacted the profit margins of corporations: the only thing, by law, that they pay attention to. At the same time, it shifts the ideological spectrum. Some called the Sierra Club "terrorists" before Earth First! came along, and now the Sierra Club is mainstream.

In two decades of existence (longer than Calef's claim of establishment in 1992) no human or non-human animal has been injured because of an ELF action. Not one.

The current rhetoric used by the FBI is that the ELF are "terrorists." Terrorism is using violence to achieve individual agendas. The question then becomes, is property destruction terrorism?

I would like to think that if I stood in front of the gates of Auschwitz, with a wrench in my hand, that I wouldn't be afraid to tear the gas chambers down. Yes, it is violating someone's right to property, but in doing so it is protecting another's right to life.

Calef said the "ELF ranks right up there with the rest of the world's fools who think they can ignore laws in order to push their agenda." I totally agree. Fools like those radicals, the Sons of Liberty, who tossed tea into the Boston harbor, inflicting economic damage on the owners.

Our nation's history is rooted in this kind of "terrorism." The ELF is not "destroying the American way of life," as Calef said. They're protecting it.

Will Potter
Journalism senior