Define "Terrorism"

What makes a person or a group a terrorist? A letter to the editor in today's (March 31, 2016) Buffalo News accuses the owners of Burning Books – a bookstore in Buffalo's west side – of being terrorists because in the past one of the owners – Nathaniel Buckley– used to be a media messenger for the Earth Liberation Front.

The ELF is known for destroying SUV lots, science labs, etc in the name of stopping the environmental destruction that the vehicles caused. They were also opposed to animal testing and stood up for animal rights.

They are accused of causing millions of dollars of damage.

From a civil rights point of view – the FBI needs probable cause in order to get a warrant for surveillance. And remember – all Buckley did was act as a messenger for the group. He has done nothing as of late that can be a cause of concern. He does exercise his First Amendment rights by hosting speakers that highlight environmental concerns (according to the BN.)

Let's think about something though

Let's look at Hooker Chemical (among other groups) that buried toxic chemicals in the Love Canal region of Niagara Falls. That cost over a million dollars to clean up (and the area may still be contaminated) in the late 1070's and 1980's. The chemicals caused birth defects and cancers, polluted groundwater, and ruined house and property values. Is Hooker Chemical a group of terrorists?

Cigarette companies has evidence from way back in the 1930's and 1940's that smoking cigarettes causes cancer. The science is very clear and exact on this. And yet the cigarette companies fight (to this day) the accusation that their product kills people. Over a million men, women, and children have died as a result of smoking or breathing second hand smoke. We could go into the effects of second hand smoke and the millions of dollars of damage that has been caused to people by breathing second hand smoke emphysema and other breathing disorders. Does that make cigarette companies and their PR machines terrorists?

Exxon Corporation had evidence back in the early 1970's that burning fossil fuels would cause global warming and climate change. How many millions of dollars of damages and how many people have died from the increased power and frequency of hurricanes and tornadoes? Hurricane Katrina damn near destroyed New Orleans and look at what Hurricane Sandy did to the US. We can go into the Pacific Rim and look at the hurricanes that have slammed into the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan, Bangladesh, India, and the many island nations. Look at the island nations that are threatened by rising sea levels. Tuvalu for starters.

Look at the drought in Africa, the Middle East, the Great Plains and other areas of the world. Look at the millions of dollars in damage that global warming and climate change has done to our food supply and aquifers. Exxon isn't alone in this knowledge. BP and others knew about this as well. Does this make the oil companies and their executives terrorists?

An article in the April 18, 2016 issue of The Nation spells out “Global Warming's Terrifying New Chemistry” - the dangers of methane gas leaks. These can be mostly tied to fracking and the faulty technology used in the practice. Then again, go live around a fracking well and notice the air pollution, water pollution, loss of property values, and sickness that people suffer from. These wells can not be safely drilled and used. And yet the companies keep drilling them. Science shows that methane is a more dangerous compound for global warming that other forms of air pollution and the fracking industry knows it. Look at all the economic damage that the fracking wells are causing in the communities where they are being drilled and used. Does this make fracking companies terrorists?

British Petroleum and the Moncado Well. (Include Halliburton and other companies in this.) They knew the well was dangerous. Greg Palast exposed the danger based on an identical incident in Azerbaijan (I believe. I know it was one of the former Soviet Republics.) They knew what they were doing and the accident was worse and pretty much destroyed the Gulf Coast. (In spite of what you see in TV advertising, there are places that you still can't go. Armed guards keep you out.) Plus there are traces of oil and Corexit – a chemical dispersant so toxic that it was banned in the UK – in seafood from the Gulf. It can't be eaten. How many hundreds of millions of dollars in damages? Are BP & Company terrorists?

Merck Corporation was forced to pull Vioxx and Bextra off the market after they killed 50,000+ people. They deliberately told their sales representatives to promote the drugs as safe for treating conditions that the FDA did not approve the drug for. And their research showed that the drug was unsafe. They lied to the FDA and with held the information that would have kept the drugs off the market. Is Merck a terrorist organization? They deliberately killed 50,000 people.

I can go on – Monsanto & Dow with Agent Orange (How many US Veterans died from Agent Orange poisoning? Go to Vietnam and look at the areas where it was sprayed.) I'm confident there are many others.

And yet these organizations, that have killed many times more people than ELF and done millions more in damages are not called terrorists.

They are called capitalist organizations and the listed effects are just the price of doing business.

So, if ELF would have made a profit from their actions on Wall Street they would have been OK?

Color me confused by what makes a person or a group a terrorist organization.