June 2
Why didn’t Jackson Lee rant about big threat, eco-terrorists?
Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 8:54AM A video of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) quizzing Patrick Dunleavy, the former deputy inspector of the criminal intelligence unit, NY Dept. of Correctional Services doesn’t just reflect Lee’s veering off subject —Muslim radicalization in America prisons.
Lee’s bizarre preoccupation with “Christian militants” who might try to “bring down the country” reflected a glaring omission of groups the FBI declared the top domestic terrorism threat in 2004.
Lee introduced Christian militants as a political ploy, in my opinion. That alone should cause her to be removed from any committee associated with homeland security. That attitude under the Clinton administration is exactly what helped people to die needlessly and helped open the door to the attacks on 9/11/2001.
There’s a report at the Council on Foreign Relations, ‘Militant Extremists in the United States.’ CFR is praised by big names at big networks, so it’s no right wing think tank.
CFR pointed to a group that has probably done more damage than we’ve been told. Politicians and allied media on the left are not going to trumpet whacko environmentalists’ crimes. CFR said, “According to the FBI, so-called eco-terrorists and animal rights groups like the Earth Liberation Front have committed over two thousand crimes and caused losses of over $110 million since 1979. Ecological extremism (BaltimoreSun) gained particular notoriety in the 1990s, and in 2004 the FBI declared these groups the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat.”
The report does claim, citing the FBI, that a 2005 report showed “domestic militias and conservative special interest causes, began to overtake left-wing extremism as the most dangerous if not the most prolific domestic terrorist threat to the country.” Then the report cites a decidedly partisan group—the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The CFR report explains how different law enforcement agencies label crimes—there’s a lot of room for politicizing those labels.
CFR also noted abortion rights groups’ violence peaked in the 1990s.
Incidentally, at the SPLC website, there’s a curious admission prefacing a report on rightwing extremist groups: “Since the article below was published, authorities have changed their view of an incident in Dearborn, Mich., that is mentioned. Initially, it was believed that the Michigan suspect was planning an attack based on hatred of Muslims. In fact, it turns out that Roger Stockham is an American convert to Sunni Islam, and reportedly was angry at the mosque in question because it was Shi'ite.”
Politicizing domestic security has no place in governance. Lee should’ve stuck to the agenda and once her emotions overtook her intellect, she should have brought up ecoterrorists. How many wildfires are started by these nuts?
Think I’m exaggerating? Take a look at the long record of eco-terrorist crimes listed at the Anti-Defamation League website.
When Jackson Lee went off on her tangent, Dunleavy somehow managed to keep a straight face while telling her, “I don’t know that Christian militants have foreign country backing or foreign country financing.” [CNS News]
On the other hand, some of those major eco-terrorist groups did originate in a foreign country. (ADL)
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/June 19, 2011)
Related/Source Articles
Extremism in the Animal Rights and Environmentalist Movements (Anti-Defamation League)
Extremism in America: Ecoterrorism (ADL)
ABC on terrorist suspect: Everything but a Muslim (Newsbusters)
Rightwing extremism: Homeland Security focus… (The US Report)
Please help keep The US Report, an independent blog, online by using the PayPal link in the top right column to make a donation.
Use the 'Share Article' link below to share this article on Facebook and other social media sites.
Reader Comments (2)