ECO-TERRORIST ATTACK IN SAN FRANCISCO

Scary headline. But that is what the FBI forced the editors to print by issuing a alert warning of eco-terror this weekend.

First of all, "eco-terror" should be driven out of the lexicon. It is an irresponsible term and the FBI looks small-minded by using it. For example, you hear "bio-terror" and you freak out because you're thinking biological agents are being used by terrorists. In "eco-terror" the 'eco' isn't modifying the terror, it is an abbreviation. "Eco-terrorists" don't use the environment for terrorism, rather they are "terrorists" concerned about ecology.

Secondly, describing the Earth Liberation Front as "terrorists" is another bastardization of an important word. These kids don't crash planes into buildings, they burn SUVs (like the guy at the center of all of this who got 22 years for two SUVs). They don't employ terror as a political weapon, rather they employ vandalism as an economic tool.

The Bush administration has managed to piss off most of the world and these are the "terrorist threats" the FBI is getting us excited about?

- Bob Brigham
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