Counterterrorism expert

A good response to others is not something like "I agree." Please find something that you can analyze, add to, critique, explain, disagree with, or something. It should be a few cogent sentences. It should contain something that shows your knowledge of the subject, as well as additional materials you might bring from the web and elsewhere. Apply relevant professional, personal, or other real-world experiences. Supports position with applicable knowledge

You should create substantial responses to your peers. Think of this as your opportunity to teach. Create substantial responses which expand on a point and present information on the topic. Your responses should demonstrate your critical thinking on the topic.

Respond to the following discussions (3X). Write how you would respond to their discussions. (No word count.) Be thoughtful and insightful and it must demonstrate critical thinking and analysis.

Read the following and respond

1. Left-Wing

         For this discussion the left group that I will be selecting is the ELN or Earth Liberation Front. This groups primary driver is the salvation and restoration of the environment. They achieve their goals through any means that they can from sabotage to terrorism. You are more likely to see news stories regarding the destruction of corporate property or the detonation of explosives for them to make their message hear. In the past left-wing terrorist groups would routinely commit murder or attempt to over through governments in order to achieve their goals. This is a relatively new form of leftist terrorism. I had been watching some Neil Degrasse Tyson commentary recently where he attributed some of these new types of eco-movements to our trip to the moon. Suggesting that these lines of thought came about from our first viewing the planet as a whole without territorial boarders or land divisions drawn on it.

Right-Wing

 The right-wing group I have chosen is the Grey wolves. Although they were started in the 60’s the continue to the present. They are generally opposed to the ideas of the left and will even engage leftist groups in combat. They have been banned in a number of countries and like the groups of the past are seeking to reunite the Turkish people across the land.  Generally they are para-military and neo-fascist. This modern group seems to be more inline with the classical right-wing terrorism than the ELN to its classical roots.

Identify one left-wing movement. How would you describe the characteristics and themes of this left-wing dissident movement?

2. The left-wing movement that I decided to write about is the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).  According to GlobalSecurity.org (n.d.), “supporters say ELF is a group of ecological defense seeking the deletion of concern for profitability, responsible for environmental destruction, causing financial damage to companies through direct action” (n.p.).  ELF seeks to disrupt and/or sabotage economic activities that it views as exploiting or damaging the Earth.  One caveat to ELF’s terrorist activities is that its members take extreme care to not damage or kill the environment, animals, and/or humans (GlobalSecurity.org, n.d.).  ELF has a lot of support and is considered a serious terrorist threat.  According to GlobalSecurity.org (n.d.), “ELF was ranked as the highest internal terrorist threat in the United States by the FBI in March 2001” (n.p.).  ELF’s primary mode of operation is classified as monkeywrenching.  GlobalSecurity.org (n.d.) defines monkeywrenching as “a euphemism for acts of sabotage and property destruction against industries and other entities perceived to be damaging the natural environment” (n.p.).  On a practical level, ELF accomplishes its monkeywrenching through arson, tree spiking, and sabotage of equipment.

ELF demonstrates its goals to prevent the destruction of the environment through the destruction and sabotage of organizations and its equipment that are perceived to damage the environment.  I personally can see the merit to ELF’s viewpoint of wanting to preserve the environment.  However, I do not think that any of their actions are moral and legal.  One should not destroy or illegally sabotage business operations.  ELF has a history of arson and using explosive devices, which have the potential to damage the environment if not properly controlled.  Furthermore, the risk of injury or death to animals and humans is also unacceptable.  Therefore, I do not view the actions employed by ELF as reasonable.

3. The Freedom Party is an upcoming right-wing movement in Austria. This movement has been around since 1956, but it has recently made tremendous gains in the Austrian government. The Freedom Party is known as a nationalist party and has represented Nazi interests. This party is outspoken about its opposition towards immigration, Islam and wants to ban the burka. The party has moved from being far-right to conservative. It is clear that the effects of Islamic terrorism throughout the world and its nation has allowed the Freedom Party to gain massive momentum. In December 2017, The Freedom Party created a coalition government with the Austrian People’s Party after it came in a strong third place in the polls (Smith, 2016).

This specific right-wing movement ignores and dismisses claims of racism, prejudice, or fascism. The Freedom Party’s roots are directly connected to Nazi interests, and today the leaders in the group dismiss these accusations. The Freedom Party General Secretary Harald Vilimsky states, “We reject violence, totalitarianism, and racism in any form” (Reuters Staff, 2018). Although this group does not directly encourage violence specifically, their movement does warrant hate against Muslims and immigrants. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz states, “Political Islam’s parallel societies and radicalizing tendencies have no place in our country” (Burton, 2018). The Austrian government plans to close down seven mosques and expel Muslim leaders (Burton, 2018).

Hate crimes against Muslims in Austria have grown by 21% from 2016 to 2017. There were 253 documented crimes against Muslims, and in 2017 there were 309. These attacks have increased because of the elections, the success of the Freedom Party and the advocacy to stop migration (Anadolu Agency, 2018). It is evident that this right-wing movement does not directly encourage violence, but it does occur because of the spiteful ideological beliefs towards Muslims has grown because of this political movement.