The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified the Earth Liberation Front
(ELF) as the most dangerous domestic terrorist organization. Environmental activists claim that they have been specially targeted to make up for the lack of success against Al Qaida, the Taliban and the Iraqi insurgents.
ELF is not an organization but rather an idea. Terrorist acts carried out in its
name garner publicity which motivates others to perpetrate new crimes. While these
individuals may (or may not) be sympathetic to other nominally left wing and
putatively anti-American causes such as the Palestinians, Zapatistas, etc., the focus of
ELF actions is a domestic American agenda. Their felonies are defined as terrorism
specifically because they are intended to coerce the government and the people of the United States in favor of political goals.
Ecology activists claim that the government is using "green scare" tactics
analogous to the "Red scare" of the 1920s and the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Activists claim, further, that the March 3, 2008, "McMansion" fires in Seattle‘s
Street of Dreams district benefited the builder more than their own cause. "Follow the
money," say the ecologists.
This loose-knit, self-funded array of saboteurs and arsonists is responsible for hundreds of attacks on laboratories, logging operations, new home construction, and car dealerships. Total damages over the past 30 years easily run into the tens of millions of dollars and may top $100 million.
"The Earth Liberation Front," by Michael E. Marotta; School of Staff and Command; SSC 441: Foreign and Domestic Terrorism for First Responders; Prof. Gerald "Skip" Lawver, Eastern Michigan University, Winter 2008.
Read the paper here on Google Documents.