Yeah baby… kinda like the collection jars in all those Irish bars that funnel the loot straight to the IRA. You gonna call for cutting off the civil rights of everybody that drinks green beer?
:wally
I suspect he would have no problem with law enforcement keeping tabs on, or even infiltrating, an Irish bar suspected of financing terrorism.
Would you?
Those were the things I was thinking of. Still…
When my choice are saving a rat or saving John Stossel…
Yes. But how about “Irish bars” or “Irish people” in general, though?
There was a prevailing attitude in the 1970s and 80s in the UK towards Irish people in general, during the IRA and INLA bombing campaigns. There’s a line from an Irish rebel song that goes “Being Irish means you’re guilty / So we’re guilty one and all”. The implication of the sentiment to me is that prejudice to the entire group fosters that group’s empathy with the terrorists.
Unless it was a Rat of Unmitigated Evil, I’d choose the rat. 
FTR, the only reason I picked that cite for the “funding the defense of terrorists” aspect was because it was the first I found that wasn’t hosted by an organization that wasn’t an obvious shill for industry (e.g., the Consumer Federation of America). It’s pretty well-documented, though…
Your cite is nothing but a grandstanding letter from a Republican congressman asking a lot of questions about whether PeTA has donated money tp ALF or ELF. It doesn’t actually provide any proof that PeTA has done so.
PeTA is not a terrorist group and they are not affiliated with any terrorist groups nor have they ever sponsored any violence.
Here’s testimony from an FBI section chief regarding ALF and ELF terrorist activities.
“The FBI estimates that the ALF/ELF have committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, resulting in damages in excess of 43 million dollars.”
The fact that PeTA gives money to these groups is well known and has been printed many times, the information was discovered in their own tax documents.
I can’t find any acts of violence ennumerated in that cite. It seems to have a very loose definition of terrorism and is suspiciously vague about what the specific acts of “terror” are.
What constitutes “ecoterror?” Is it throwing paint on a fur coat or sabotaging a bulldozer. I don’t consider that “terror” and it’s a perfect example of cheapening the word.
To my mind ecoterror includes anything involving arson for political purposes. Such as the Vail arson of 2000, IIRC; or torching SUV’s on dealer’s lots - both actions that have been claimed by either ALF or ELF. This cite offers one admitted link between ALF, ELF and PeTA. Anyone using arson for political purposes is only a stroke of coincidence, or luck, from being a murderer.
No, my cite is a letter from a Congressman (who the fuck cares what party he belongs to?) asking PETA why they gave money to the ALF and ELF–not if they did. The fact that they gave money is, as Marley23 pointed out, documented in their own tax filings.
So are you saying that the ALF and the ELF aren’t terrorist groups (note that the FBI considers both to be domestic terrorists)? Or are you saying that financially supporting terrorist groups doesn’t mean you’re affiliated with them?
Well you might concider burning down a sub-division to protect some wetland or wild-life area. While the homes were both incomplete and un-occupied in most instances , the goal was to frighten new home buyers into staying away from this particular maryland suburb.
Obviously no one group has claimed reponsibility and the ELF has poo poo’ed the perps , of course.
Declan
Terror means using violence against human beings, not SUVs. Industrial sabotage is still criminal but it isn’t terrorism.
The FBI can suck my cock. I don’t consider them to be terrorist groups. Have they ever killed anybody?
E-mail it to me. I’ll put it on the internet for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to read.
Would it be fair to say that you believe that bodily harm to a human is a necessary prerequisite for an act to be terrorism?
Well then you can’t balem PETA, can you?
This whole argument is a sidetrack from my thread. If if PeTa were a terrorist organization (which they aren’t except by the most specious chain of leaps) they still are not a RELIGION and they are not analogous to Muslims.
Either bodily harm or a threat of bodily harm, yes.
I am grateful for this discussion. I can’t tell you how little thought I’d given lately to the terrible threat of eco-terrorism.
Maybe you’d feel differently if your livelyhood depended on an activity that the ELF or the ALF didn’t like?
Your right , it is a side track , but one that needs to be traveled.
To bring it back to your OP , what level of law enforcement would you be happy with, in relation to domestic based terrorist cells, of what ever flavor ?
Declan