Damage From U.S. Extremists a Concern
Personally I think damage from any extremist is a concern...
Quote:
BOSTON (AP) — When it comes to fears about a terrorist attack, people in the U.S. usually focus on Osama bin Laden and foreign-based radical groups. Yet researchers [INDENT]say domestic extremists who commit violence in the name of their cause — abortion or the environment, for example — account for most of the damage from such incidents in this country.
Read the entire article here.
The 68 domestic terrorist incidents in the researcher's database since 9/11 break down like this:
36 by Earth Liberation Front
5 by Animal Liberation Front
1 by Revolutionary Cells Animal Liberation Brigade
26 by Unknown or other group
Of the 26 "unknowns":
8 Blamed on or suspected by unknown eco-terrorists, ALF or ELF
9 Anthrax letters
3 Ricin incidents
2 Against the Cuban- American National Foundation headquarters
1 Unclear
Plus these 3:
Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, an Egyptian-born man, opened fired at the El Al Israeli Airlines ticket counter at the Los Angeles Airport (LAX), killing two people and wounding three others.
One woman was killed and five other injured when Naveed Afzal Haq, a Muslim-American man, opened fire on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building in downtown Seattle.
Two "unsophisticated" grenades exploded outside a building that houses the British consulate in New York City.
What was the point of this exercise, and especially this article? The first example the writer mentions is "abortion" terrorism, then mentions "white-supremacist" groups 3 times, "right-wing extremists" twice and "left-wing activists" once. Apparently white-supremacists are a big concern to the author and right-wing terrorists are "extremists" while left-wing terrorists are merely "activists." Sounds noble doesn't it?
It seems to me our biggest domestic terrorism concern is hands down from eco-terrorists/animal rights wackos. Oh, and not one incident of anti-abortion terrorism is listed for the past 6 1/2 years. I also didn't find anything attributed to "white-supremacists." Seems like "left-wing activists" almost have a monopoly on domestic terrorism in the US these days, so why the fear-mongering about "right-wing extremists" by this al-AP reporter?
Comments?