Derrick Jensen's letter printed in Oregonian

What eco 'terrorism'? Oregonian

As someone who wrote a book that details the history of the Ku Klux Klan ("The Culture of Make Believe"), I was both appalled and not surprised to see a prosecuting attorney compare the [eco-saboteur] defendants to the KKK ("Sentencing hinges on defining terror," May 16). I was appalled because the comparison is both absurd and utterly false.

The KKK murdered tens of thousands of people. In the weeks preceding the presidential election of 1868, at least 2,000 people were killed or wounded by Klan violence just in Louisiana. This violence carried right on into the 20th century.

Contrast that with the defendants in this case, who [committed] nothing more serious than property destruction [see "Arsonist gets 13-year sentence in terror acts," May 24]. They injured no person. They destroyed only corporate and government property. This in no way compares with the terrorism of the Klan (or any other terrorism, for that matter).

I am not, however, surprised to see a prosecutor in this case make this absurd and inflammatory comparison, since from the beginning this case has been more about public relations than substance: Even the term "eco-terrorism" is a public relations term coined by a corporate propagandist.

Even to call for a terrorism enhancement in this case is to devalue the very real suffering of real victims of terrorism the world over.

DERRICK JENSEN Crescent City, Calif.