America may now be dealing with a new type of reactionary group. Typically, people think of radicals as racist, homophobic, gun-toting red necks from the West or the South. A fairly new group, though, has come together to prove that stereotype wrong. They call it protecting the environment. I call it eco-terrorism.

The Earth Liberation Front is an extremist group set out to destroy the American way of life. Since their creation, they have caused millions of dollars worth of damage to property through vandalism and arson.

ELF was founded in 1992 in England when mainstream environmentalists refused to act lawfully in order to convey their message.

The setup of ELF is unusual. There is no official membership and no official leader. The group operates in local underground “cells,” and cell members don’t know any members of other cells; everything is done anonymously.

According to the group’s web site, in order to be deemed an act of ELF, cell members must adhere to three main guidelines – to inflict economic damage on those profiting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment; to reveal and educate the public on the atrocities committed against the earth and all species that populate it; and to take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human.

In a nutshell, what ELF does is vandalize and destroy the property of those who benefit from capitalism by using the environment. It has gotten so bad FoxNews reported the FBI considers them to be one of the country’s most dangerous terrorist groups.

Last week they stepped up efforts to spread their cause. On their web site, they posted directions on how to set fires with electrical timers.

They also claimed responsibility for two arsons; one in Seattle at the University of Washington and another in Clatskanie, Oregon. The two fires, set on May 21st, caused over $3 million in damages. Luckily, no one was hurt.

This group of tyrants has their priorities so messed up they will cause more harm than good for the nation.

The goals of this group are impossible to reach. They claim they don’t want any person or thing to be injured or killed, yet they run around setting things on fire. You can be sure someone is going to get hurt down the line, and these people will have no remorse. They won’t even claim responsibility for their actions.

And putting instructions on how to build a bomb on their Web site? Chances are some kid who doesn’t know any better is going to go try to make a small bomb. It will backfire and some one will die. That is what I will consider a true act of ELF.

The group’s Web site is the biggest joke of all. They repeatedly state the evils of capitalism and the rich.

There have been a number of instances where cell members destroyed luxury homes because they think the rich don’t need them and trees need to be cut down in order to build the homes.

On the site, a person can look up all the acts that are said to be of the ELF. The list goes as far back as 1996 when the ELF claimed responsibility for a number of instances where the doors were glued shut at several McDonald’s.

Way to stick it to `em ELF.

That probably hurt poor people far more than the rich. Think about it. McDonald’s can deal with being closed at a few locations for a day. But who works there? Certainly not the wealthy.

What the ELF did those days was prevent the workers, who don’t make much, miss work. They simply knocked the pay from those who actually needed it.

Another part of the web site I found to be rather amusing was when they were telling cell members their rights under the Constitution. Like these people care about the supreme law of the land. They claim to be concerned with their rights, yet they have absolutely no respect for the rights of others.

If they did, they wouldn’t destroy personal property, they wouldn’t be anti-capitalistic, and they wouldn’t be committing crimes that will eventually lead to the injury, or death, of others.

Whether you are a member of the KKK or some sort of religious cult, no one with any common sense will take you seriously. Radicals think they’re simply persuading people for a good cause. Even if you believe your cause is right, infringing upon the right of others destroys any credibility you have.

ELF ranks right up there with the rest of the world’s fools who think they can ignore laws in order to push their agenda. Sooner or later, though, extremism will come back to haunt them.

Zach Calef is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Cedar Rapids. He is news editor of the Daily.