It's understandable, given the usual run of the news cycle these days, that we in the Western world so often associate the word "terrorism" with Islamic terrorism. Islamic terrorism is one of the most atrocious (in the most literal sense of the word) movements in history, from the invasion of Spain in 711 A.D. to the October 7th, 2023 attacks on Israel. Islamoterror dominates the coverage of terrorism for this very reason.
Still: Terror is a tactic, not a group, not a movement. Islamist radicals aren't the only ones who use terror as a tactic. Communists have, from the very beginning, used terror as a means to control the people under the control of Communist governments. Socialist governments in general, including a certain notorious "National Socialist" government, have long used terror tactics with abandon.
It's not just governments. Leftist radicals engage in terror tactics just as freely. My friend and colleague Bob Hoge, on Monday, covered one such attack by a German terrorist group that has plunged much of Berlin into darkness, in the middle of a north German winter.
We’ve seen plenty of leftist violence in America in recent times, but we are hardly immune. Across the Pond, in Berlin, Germany, they’re finding out just how damaging crazed anarchists can be when they put their minds to it. To wit, a far-left pro-environmental organization called the Vulkan group claimed responsibility for an attack on the power grid that has left thousands of residents without electricity for days — even as freezing temperatures engulf the region.
According to the newspaper Berlin Zeitung, the group posted a 4,163-word letter saying they did it to protest the energy industry, adding that they targeted well-off neighborhoods to "cut the juice to the ruling class."
Looks like their leftists are just as nuts as ours.
That's for sure and for certain.
Read More: Berlin Blackout: Leftist Sabotage Sparks Prolonged Power Crisis Amid Brutal Cold Snap
The Berlin attack is still claiming victims; as of this writing, many of the affected areas are still without power.
Most homes in the area rely on electric pumps or grid-connected systems for heat; some residents reported indoor temperatures dropping to 13°C (55°F). Mobile phone networks, landlines, and internet services have been disrupted. Elevators are out of order (trapping elderly residents in high-rises), traffic lights are dark, and local trains (S-Bahn) have faced significant delays.
There have already been reports of looting as residents have been forced to leave their homes, making them open targets for thieves.
Numerous schools and shops remain closed. Hospitals initially relied on emergency generators, though most have now been reconnected to the grid.
This is literally an attack that could cost lives. And, this being modern Europe, it's unclear as to whether any members of this "Vulkan Group" will ever face any consequences for an attack that could kill people. But this act of enviro-terror is far from the first such attack.
Read More: Greta Thunberg's Latest Environmental Stunt Will Make You Nauseous
The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) has done some great work documenting the activities of two groups active in the Americas and in Europe, two closely linked groups, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Both groups have a long history, having been founded in the 1970s.
These two groups are very incestuous; a Venn diagram of the two groups' memberships would essentially just be a circle. Both groups are organized; both groups have shadowy funding sources (we might very well speculate whether anyone named "Soros" is involved), and both groups, like many terrorist groups, operate mostly in small, mostly independent cells.
These are serious terrorists. It's easy to dismiss them as simple cranks. Some of them are, of course. But others are not.
In a 1994 report, NAIA describes one ALF attack on a research laboratory:
The laboratory was the center of research on sleeping disorders, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, conducted by Dr. John Orem. When the ALF raiders quit the premises, they left damaged and disabled equipment and slogans spray-painted on the walls and stole five adult research-conditioned cats. Immediately after the invasion, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals aired ALF's statement justifying theft of the cats and Orem and his research became a target of vicious harassment.
The laboratory was effectively closed for 45 days. Total direct and indirect costs of the break-in was estimated at more than $1 million after equipment was repaired or replaced, new cats were purchased, additional security was installed, and inactive staff was paid.
Along about this same time, my wife was working in an agricultural research facility in northern Colorado. Late one night, someone broke into that facility and released several animals, including swine infected with the Salmonella virus that were being held in quarantine. The animals didn't wander far and were quickly recovered, but it doesn't take a great stretch of imagination to understand how the outcome of such an act could be much, much worse. And, we might add, it doesn't matter what one thinks of the use of animals in biomedical research; acts of terrorism are not how to go about voicing your opposition.
ALF and ELF have not contented themselves with releasing lab animals. Some early incidents include:
1986: A bomb was left in a Binns department store in the UK city Newcastle-upon-Tyne city center. A caller to Metro Radio claiming to be from ALF claimed responsibility. The bomb was defused but was reportedly workable - meaning, it could have gone boom. The ALF caller claimed the bomb was a response to Binns' selling fur garments.
1987: An ALF arson attack on the University of California's Animal Diagnostics Laboratory caused $5 million in damage.
1989: Incendiary devices were left at a meat company; ALF claimed responsibility.
That's only the beginning. There have been hundreds of such actions since; arson, vandalism, release of captive animals that will only die within days. Some of these are nuisance attacks, but others, like the arson and bomb attacks, could easily have cost lives. It's only a matter of good fortune that they have not, and remember, the Berlin event is still ongoing.
These people, including the Vulkan Group, ALF, and ELF, are terror groups. They use fear and intimidation to push a political agenda, which is the very definition of terrorism, and like all terror groups, as we see in Berlin right now, they are escalating. The governments of the civilized world need to treat them as terrorists. That's what they are. Let them find out, for good and all, what that really means. Here in the United States, we could start by officially designating the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front as domestic terror groups and focusing law-enforcement efforts on them accordingly.
