Arson

Thanks for posting.

I’ve been dismayed in the states by the way the media takes the environmentally motivated arsonists and portrays them as akin to those that would fly planes full of people into buildings and set off a nuclear weapon in a city.

I think the ecoarsonists were trying to damage property to make new construction in wilderness areas costly and prohibitive. I don’t think they were trying to create fear amongst builders.

got me curious about the definition… from wikipedia…

Terrorism is "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion."[2] There is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism.[3][4] Most common definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants. Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war.

Terrorism is also a form of unconventional warfare and psychological warfare. The word is politically and emotionally charged,[5] and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. One 1988 study by the US Army found that over 100 definitions of the word "terrorism" have been used.[6]. A person who practices terrorism is a terrorist.

Terrorism has been used by a broad array of political organizations in furthering their objectives; both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic, and religious groups, revolutionaries and ruling governments.[7] The presence of non-state actors in widespread armed conflict has created controversy regarding the application of the laws of war.

An International Round Table on Constructing Peace, Deconstructing Terror (2004) hosted by Strategic Foresight Group recommended that a distinction should be made between terrorism and acts of terror. While acts of terrorism are criminal acts as per the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 and domestic jurisprudence of almost all countries in the world, terrorism refers to a phenomenon including the actual acts, the perpetrators of acts of terrorism themselves and their motives. There is disagreement on definitions of terrorism. However, there is an intellectual consensus globally, that acts of terrorism should not be accepted under any circumstances. This is reflected in all important conventions including the United Nations counter terrorism strategy, the decisions of the Madrid Conference on terrorism, the Strategic Foresight Group and ALDE Round Tables at the European Parliament.
 

The term terrorism is so degraded by using it against property-based arson cases.

I am not comfortable with the FBI using the term domestic terrorism on this kind of arson. It seems like a stretch…it diminishes the term terrorism from the kind of efforts aimed at killing thousands, tens of thousands or millions of people and creating an ongoing sense of fear in their lives. This kind of arson is aimed primarily at property, does not often target people – albeit it does seemed aimed at political change…it still seems like arson or violent activism to me. Is anyone afraid ELF is going to burn their house down tonight?