Leaderless resistance

Leaderless resistance (or phantom cell structure) is a political resistance strategy in which small, independent groups (covert cells) challenge an established adversary such as a government. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything from non-violent disruption and civil disobedience to bombings, assassinations and other violent agitation. Leaderless cells lack bidirectional, vertical command links and operate without hierarchal command. [cite web | author = Simson Garfinkel | title = Leaderless resistance today | url = http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_3/garfinkel/ | accessmonthday = May 7 | accessyear = 2006 ]

Given the simplicity of the strategy, leaderless resistance has been employed by a wide-range of movements, from terrorist and hate groups through to social movements such as the animal rights movement and radical environmental movement. It has also been used by anti-corporate and anti-abortion activists.

General characteristics

A typical covert cell operates as anything from a lone individual to a small group of members. The basic characteristic of the structure is that there is no explicit communication between cells which are otherwise acting toward the same goals. Members of one cell usually have little or no specific information on who else is agitating on behalf of their cause.

Leaderless movements may have symbolic figureheads. It can be a public figure or an inspirational author, who picks generic targets and objectives, but does not actually manage or execute plans. Media, in this case, often create a positive feedback loop: the publishing of declarations of a movement’s role model instills motivation, ideas and assumed sympathy in the minds of potential agitators who lend further authority to the figurehead.Fact|date=June 2007 While this may be loosely viewed as a vertical command structure, it is notably unidirectional: a titular leader makes pronouncements and activists may respond but there is no established contact between the two levels of organization.

As a result, leaderless resistance cells are largely insusceptible to informants and traitors. As there is neither a center that may be destroyed, nor links between the cells that may be infiltrated, it is more difficult for established authorities to arrest the development of a leaderless resistance movement than more conventional hierarchies.

Given its asymmetrical character and the fact that it is often strategically adopted in the face of an obvious institutional power imbalance, leaderless resistance has much in common with guerrilla warfare. The latter strategy, however, usually retains some form of organized, bidirectional leadership and is often more broad-based than the individualized actions of leaderless cells. In some cases, a largely leaderless movement may evolve into a coherent insurgency or guerrilla movement, as successfully occurred with the Yugoslav partisans of World War II. In the same conflict, the British leadership had extensive plans for the use of such resistance in the event of a German invasion. [cite web | author = British Resistance Organisation | title = History | url = http://www.parhamairfieldmuseum.co.uk/brohistory.html | accessmonthday = May 7 | accessyear = 2006 ]

While the concept of leaderless resistance is often based on resistance by violent means, it is not limited to them. The same structure can be used by non-violent groups such as [http://www.uaff.us The United American Freedom Foundation] who are authoring, printing and distributing samizdat literature, using the Internet to create self-propagating boycotts against political opponents, maintaining an alternative electronic currency outside of the reach of the taxing governments and transaction-logging banks.

History of the idea

The concept of leaderless resistance was reportedly developed by Col. Ulius Louis Amoss, an alleged U.S. intelligence officer, in the early 1960s. An anti-communist, Amoss saw leaderless resistance as a backup for the possibility of a Communist seizure of the United States.

The concept was revived and popularized in an essay published by the anti-government Ku Klux Klan member Louis Beam in 1983 and again in 1992. Beam advocated leaderless resistance as a technique for white nationalists to continue the struggle against the U.S. government despite an overwhelming imbalance in power and resources. In the same year the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) was formed as an eco-resistance movement.

Beam argued that conventional hierarchical pyramidal organizations are extremely dangerous for their participants, when employed in a resistance movement against government, because of the ease of disclosing the chain of command. A more workable approach would be to convince the like-minded individuals to form independent cells, without close communication between each other, but generally operating in the same direction.

Leaderless resistance in practice

Animal rights

:"Further information: Animal liberation movement and Animal rights

The first recorded direct action for animal rights which progressed into a movement of leaderless resistance was by the "original" Band of Mercy in 1824 to thwart fox hunters.Best & Nocella (eds), "Terrorists or Freedom Fighters", Lantern Books, 2004.] Inspired by this group and after seeing a pregnant deer driven into the village by fox hunters to be killed, John Prestige decided to actively oppose this blood sport and formed the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) in 1964. Within a year, a leaderless model of hunt-sabotage groups was formed across the country.

The Band of Mercy was then formed in 1972 using direct action to liberate animals and cause economic sabotage against those thought to be abusing animals. Ronnie Lee and others then changed the name to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in 1976 and the leaderless resistance model focusing broadly on animal rights was born. [Webb, Robin. "Animal Liberation — By 'Whatever Means Necessary'," in Best & Nocella (eds), "Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 77."]

Earth First! and the environmental movement in the 1980s adopted the leaderless resistance model, [cite web | author = Southern Poverty Law Center | title = From Push to Shove | url = http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=42 | accessmonthday = May 7 | accessyear = 2006 ] whilst in the animal rights movement, advocating violence emerged with activists using the name Animal Rights Militia (ARM) in 1982. Letter bombs were sent to the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, with two years later the name Hunt Retribution Squad (HRS) also being used. [Singer, Peter. [http://www.utilitarian.org/texts/alm.html The Animal Liberation Movement: Its philosophy, its achievements and its future] . "Retrieved on 2007-11-09."] [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article495376.ece?token=null&offset=24 "Focus: Desecrated"] , "Times Online".]

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) was then formed in 1992, which broke from Earth First! when the organization decided to focus on advocating public direct action, instead of ecotage that the ELF participated in, [Alleyne, Richard. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/01/19/ncam119.xml "Terror tactics that brought a company to its knees"] , "The Daily Telegraph", January 19, 2001] whilst a violent group was established called the Justice Department in 1993, who in 1994, sent razor blades to hunters such as Prince Charles and animal researchers. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/902751.stm "Animal rights, terror tactics", "BBC News", 30 August, 2000.] ] [ [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=42 "From push to shove", "Southern Poverty Law Group Intelligence Report", Fall 2002, p.3] ]

In 1999 the strategy was then actively employed by animal rights organisations Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), formed from the Consort beagles campaign and Save the Hill Grove Cats to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences. Despite claiming successes [ [http://www.shac.net/MISC/quantum Quantum Analytics: Drop HLS] , "SHAC".] leaderless animal rights and environmental movements generally lack the broad popular support that often occurs in strictly political or military conflicts. The Revolutionary Cells--Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB) then appeared in 2003 and sent pipe bombs to Chiron Corporation as well as using incendiary devices against similar campaign targets, whilst a year later on the south coast of Dorset in 2004 the Lobster Liberation Front (LLF) was founded. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3939111.stm "Activists' 'war' to save lobsters", "BBC News", July 30, 2004.] ]

Within a few years of the victories claimed by the SHAC, other campaigns against animal testing laboratories emerged. At the same time, SPEAK Campaigns and the more radical ALF militants, Oxford Arson Squad began their campaigns for the same goal; to end Oxford University's animal research.

Broadly-focused movements, campaigns and organizations

* Animal Liberation Front (ALF)
* Animal Liberation Leagues
* Animal Rights Militia (ARM)
* Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
* Justice Department
* Lobster Liberation Front (LLF)
* Southern Animal Rights Coalition (SARC)
* Western Animal Rights Network (WARN)

Movements/campaigns focused on animal testing

;Ongoing movements/campaigns

* Oxford Arson Squad
* Primate Freedom Project
* Revolutionary Cells - Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB)
* SPEAK
* Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC)
* Stop Sequani Animal Testing (SSAT)
* Stop Wickham Animal Testing (SWAT)

;Historical campaigns

* Consort Beagles Campaign
* Save the Goats
* Save the Hill Grove Cats
* Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs
* Save the Shamrock Monkeys

Movements/campaigns focused on hunting

* Hunt Retribution Squad (HRS)
* Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA)

Movements/campaigns that advocate violence

* Animal Rights Militia (ARM)
* Justice Department
* Hunt Retribution Squad (HRS)
* Revolutionary Cells - Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB)

Islamist terrorists

Leaderless resistance is also often well-suited to terrorist objectives. The Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda provides a prototypical figurehead/leaderless cell structure. The organization may be pyramidal but sympathizers who act on its pronouncements often do so spontaneously and independently.

Given the small, clandestine character of terrorist cells it is easy to assume they necessarily constitute leaderless resistance models. Where a bidirectional affiliation occurs, however, the label is inappropriate. The men who executed the bombings of the London Underground on July 7 2005 constituted a leaderless resistance cell in that they purportedly acted out of sympathy for Islamic fundamentalism but under their own auspices. The bombers involved in the September 11 attacks, by contrast, received training, direction and funding from Al-Qaeda and are not properly designated a leaderless cell.

Internet Activism

The Internet, being a an easy and instant way to communicate, makes it an excellent tool for leaderless resistance, and Anonymous's Project Chanology uses the internet to plan protests against the Church of Scientology, while other groups like [http://www.uaff.us The United American Freedom Foundation] use the internet as a tool by posting news stories that Americans will never see in the main stream media.

Neo-Nazis

The concept of leadership resistance remains important to much far right thinking in the United States, [cite web | author = Paul de Armond | title = Putting the Far Right into Perspective | url = http://nwcitizen.com/publicgood/reports/spectrum/ | accessmonthday = May 7 | accessyear = 2006 ] both in response to Amoss' initial fear (foreign forces on U.S. soil) but increasingly also—in line with Beam—as a response to perceived federal government over-reach at the expense of individual rights. The actions of Timothy McVeigh are perhaps the most extreme example in the United States. McVeigh acted largely alone, but based on motivations widespread amongst the anti-government and militia movement.

Leaderless resistance is not only used toward anti-government ends on the far right. Xenophobic organizations such as White Aryan Resistance and the British neo-Nazi Combat 18 have adopted and advocate the tactic. The modern Ku Klux Klan is also credited with having developed a leaderless resistance model. [cite web | author = University of Michigan | title = Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism | url = http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/agenda/9909/06.pdf | accessmonthday = May 7 | accessyear = 2006 |format=PDF] Troy Southgate also advocated forms of leaderless resistance during his time as a leading activist in the National Revolutionary Faction and a pioneer of National-Anarchism.

Radical environmentalism

:"Further information: Ecotage, Eco-terrorism, Monkeywrenching and Earth liberation"The first identified leaderless resistance in the environmental movement was when explosive and incendiary devices was were used in 1976, by John Hanna and others as the Environmental Life Force (ELF), also now known as the "original ELF". The group conducted a campaign of armed actions in northern California and Oregon, later disbanding in 1978 following Hanna's arrest for placing incendiary devices on seven crop-dusters at the Salinas, California airport on May Day, 1977. [http://www.originalelf.org Original ELF] ] It wasn't until over a decade and a half later that this form of guerrilla warfare resurfaced using the same acronym.
[
thumb|right|180px|The_symbol_of_Earth First!: a Monkey wrench and stone hammer.]

In 1980 Earth First! was then founded by Dave Foreman and others to confront environmental destruction, primarily of the American West. Inspired by the Edward Abbey novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang", Earth First! made use of such techniques as treesitting [ [http://www.penbay.org/ef/treesit_first1985.html Earth First's first treesitting civil disobedience action] , "Earth First! 1985", Oregon, June 1985.] and treespiking [ [http://www.things.org/~jym/ef/tree-spiking-memo.html Tree Spiking Memo] , "Earth First!", April 1990.] to stop logging companies, as well as other activities targeted towards mining, road construction,cite book | title = Earth First! and the Anti-Roads Movement: Radical Environmentalism and Comparative Social Movements | last = Wall | first = Derek | year = 1999 | publisher = Routledge ] suburban development and energy companies.

The organization were committed to nonviolent ecotage techniques from the group's inception, with those that split from the movement in the 1990s including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in 1992, naming themselves after the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who formed in the 1970s. [ [http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/tree/16/fire.html ELF Burns Down Vail] , "FIRE", December 1999.] Three years later in Canada, inspired by the ELF in Europe the first "Earth Liberation" direct action occurred, but this time as the Earth Liberation Army (ELA), a similar movement who use ecotage and monkeywrenching as a tool, although no guidelines had been published.The ELF gained national attention for a series of actions which earned them the label of eco-terrorists, [ [http://prfamerica.org/EarthLiberationFrontNo1onFBIList.html Earth Liberation Front is now FBI's No. 1 Domestic Terrorist Threat] , "Property Rights of America Foundation Inc", March 2001.] [http://www.earthliberationfront.com/elf_news.htm ELF News] , "Earth Liberation Front" including the burning of a ski resort in Vail, Colorado in 1998, and the burning of an SUV dealership in Oregon in 1999. In the same year the ELA had made headlines by setting fire to the Vail Resorts in Washington, D.C., causing $12 million in damages. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_36_15/ai_56063251 waste & abuse - controversy over a temporary dirt road built by Vail Resortsand its effect on wetlands] , "BNet", September 27th 1999.] The defendants in the case were later charged in the FBI's "Operation Backfire", along with other arsons and cases, which were later named by environmentalists as the Green Scare; alluding to the Red Scare, periods of fear over communist infiltration of U.S. [http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan06/elf012006.htm Eco-Terror Indictments: "Operation Backfire" Nets 11] , FBI, January 20th 2006.] [ [http://www.freedom4um.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=69570 Resentencing date set for Jeff Luers] , "Freedom4um", 29 December 2007.] Following the September 11, 2001 attacks several laws were passed increasing the penalty for ecoterrorism, and hearings were held in Congress discussing the activity of groups such as the ELF. To date no one has been killed as a result of an ELF or ALF action since both groups forbid harming human or non-human life. Bron Taylor, 1998. Religion, Violence and Radical Environmentalism: From Earth First! to the Unabomber to the Earth Liberation Front, Terrorism and Political Violence 10(4):1-42] It was then announced in 2003 that "eco-terrorist" attacks, known as "ecotage", had increased from the ELF, ELA and the "Environmental Rangers", another name used be activists when engaging in similar activity. [ [http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1101/1101ecoterrorist.htm The eco-terrorist anthrax connection] , "ESR", October 21st 2001.] In 2005 the FBI announced that the ELF, is America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, responsible for over 1,200 "criminal incidents" amounting to tens of millions of dollars in damage to property,Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. "Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth", Lantern Books, 2006, p. 47.] with the United States Department of Homeland Security confirming this regarding the ALF and ELF. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/19/domestic.terrorism/index.html FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism] , "CNN", May 19th 2005.]

Plane Stupid then was launched in 2005, in an attempt to combat the growing airport expansions in the UK using direct action with a year later the first Camp for Climate Action being held with 600 people attending a protest called "Reclaim Power" converging on Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire and attempted to shut it down. There were thirty-eight arrests, with four breaching the fence and the railway line being blocked. [cite paper|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1223134.ece|title=The Battle of Drax: 38 held as protest fails to close plant|work=The Independent|date=2006-09-01] [cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1862662,00.html|title=In the shadow of Drax, not so much a fight as a festival|work=The Guardian|date=2006-09-01]

Movements/organizations

*Earth First!
*Earth Liberation Army (ELA)
*Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
*Environmental Life Force
*Camp for Climate Action"
*Plane Stupid

Countermeasures

Network analysis in classical setting

The social networks based on leaderless resistance are potentially vulnerable to network analysis and its derivative link analysis. Link analysis of social networks is the fundamental reason for the ongoing legislative push in the U.S. and the European Union for mandatory retention of telecommunication traffic data and limiting access to anonymous prepaid cellphones, as the stored data contain important network analysis clues.

Network analysis was successfully used by French Colonel Yves Godard to break the Algerian resistance between 1955 and 1957 and force them to cease the bombing campaigns. The Algerian conflict maybe better described as guerrilla in nature rather than leaderless resistance (see "Modern Warfare" by Col. Roger Trinquier). The mapping data was obtained by the use of informants and torture and were used to obtain the identities of important individuals in the resistance; these were then assassinated, disrupting the Algerian resistance networks. The more distinctive the individual is in the adversary's network, the more difficult it is to replace them and the greater the damage.

Leaderless challenges

Traditional organizations leave behind much evidence of their activities, such as money trails, and training and recruitment material. Leaderless resistances, as they are as much ideologies as organizations, generally lack such traces. The effects of their operations, globally reported by the mass media, act as a sort of messaging and recruitment advertising.

The internet provides investigators with further challenges. The individual cells (and even a single person can be a cell) can communicate over the internet, anonymously or semi-anonymously publishing and sharing information online, to be found by others through well-known websites. Even where legally and technically possible to ascertain who accessed what, it is often practically impossible to discern in reasonable timeframe who is a real threat and who is just curious, a journalist, or a web crawler.

Despite these advantages, leaderless resistance is often unstable. If the actions are not frequent enough or not successful, the stream of public messages, serving as the recruiting, motivation and coordination drives for other cells, diminishes. If the actions are too successful, the result will be formation of support groups and other social structures—structures vulnerable to network analysis.

Leaderless resistance in fiction

The 1996 novel "Unintended Consequences" by John Ross portrays a successful rebellion by the American heartland after decades of bullying by faraway Washington and accurately depicts a leaderless resistance.

ee also

*Insurrectionary anarchism
*Lone wolf (terrorism)

References

External links

* [http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1382/ Networks and Netwars] - PDF book by RAND Corporation.
* [http://www.louisbeam.com/leaderless.htm Leaderless Resistance] - the original essay
* [http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_3/garfinkel/ Simson Garfinkel - Leaderless resistance today]
* [http://uaff.us/armmainpage.htm A.R.M. - Leaderless Resistance]