[IP] more on The Slipperiest of Slopes
Begin forwarded message:
From: steven cherry <steven@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: January 29, 2006 9:24:40 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Ken Kousky <kkousky@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on The Slipperiest of Slopes
From: Ken Kousky <kkousky@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: January 26, 2006 10:21:39 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [IP] more on The Slipperiest of Slopes
Mark, my point is that it is frightening to see the WSJ editorials
freely
call radical environmentalists terrorists.
Even if they are breaking laws and destroying property, at a time
when the
White House suggests that the President has executive authority to
do, well,
whatever is necessary to save us from terrorists, I don't think
that my own
rhetoric approaches that of the Journals editorial.
Does the president have exceptional powers to defend us against
terrorists?
If yes, is their a working operational definition of what
constitutes a
terrorist derived separately or outside our legal system?
As it turns out, there does seem to be a working operational
definition of eco-terrorism:
<http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/jarboe021202.htm>
"The FBI defines eco-terrorism as the use or threatened use of
violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by
an environmentally-oriented, subnational group for environmental-
political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often
of a symbolic nature."
So the definition might be over-broad, as Mr Kousky fears, but there
certainly is one. That page, which consists of some 2002
Congressional testimony by an FBI section chief, also details some
examples of past events the FBI considers to be criminal acts of eco-
terrorism.
I do think it's a legitimate question to ask whether Congress, when
it grants the government additional powers to fight terrorism, has in
mind attacks on mink farms or logging equipment, and whether that's
what voters have in mind when they support or oppose candidates in
Congressional races.
Steven
--
Steven Cherry, +1 212-419-7566
Senior Associate Editor
IEEE Spectrum, 3 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016
<s.cherry@xxxxxxxx> <http://www.spectrum.ieee.org>
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