From: Linda Reed--PCC West Campus CSC <lreed@west.cscwc.pima.edu>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 11:05:21 -0700 (PDT)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: A Thousand Points Of Fight
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   Breakthrough Texts 
   Leaderless Resistance
   An Essay by Louis Beam
   
     
     
     "Leaderless Resistance" -- Part One
     
     [IMAGE] The concept of leaderless resistance was proposed by Col.
     Ulius Louis Amoss, who was the founder of International Service of
     Information Incorporated, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Col. Amoss
     died more than 15 years ago, but during his life he was a tireless
     opponent of Communism, as well as a skilled intelligence officer.
     [INLINE] Col. Amoss first wrote of leaderless resistance on April
     17, 1962. His theories of organization were primarily directed
     against the threat of eventual Communist takeover in the United
     States. The present writer, with the benefit of having lived many
     years beyond Col. Amoss, has taken his theories and expounded on
     them.
     [INLINE] Col. Amoss feared the Communists. This author fears the
     federal government. Communism now represents a threat to no one in
     the United States, while federal tyranny represents a threat to
     EVERYONE. The writer has joyfully lived long enough to see the dying
     breaths of Communism, but may unhappily remain long enough to see
     the last dying gasps of freedom in America.
     [INLINE] In the hope that, somehow, America can still produce the
     brave sons and daughters necessary to fight off ever-increasing
     persecution and oppression, this essay is offered. Frankly, it is
     too close to call at this point. Those who love liberty, and believe
     in freedom enough to fight for it, are rare today; but within the
     bosom of every once great nation, there remains secreted the pearls
     of former greatness.
     [INLINE] They are there. I have looked into their sparkling eyes;
     sharing a brief moment in time with them as I passed through this
     life. Relished their friendship, endured their pain, and they mine.
     We are a band of brothers native to the soil, gaining strength one
     from another as we have rushed headlong into battle that all the
     weaker, timid men say we can not win. Perhaps not... but then again,
     perhaps we can. It's not over till the last freedom fighter is
     buried or imprisoned, or the same happens to those who would destroy
     their liberty.
     [INLINE] Barring any cataclysmic events, the struggle will yet go on
     for years. The passage of time will make it clear to even the more
     slow among us that the government is the foremost threat to the life
     and liberty of the folk. The government will no doubt make today's
     oppressiveness look like grade school work compared to what they
     have planned in the future. Meanwhile, there are those of us who
     continue to hope that somehow the few can do what the many have not.
     [INLINE] We are cognizant that before things get better they will
     certainly get worse as government shows a willingness to use ever
     more severe police state measures against dissidents. This changing
     situation makes it clear that those who oppose state repression must
     be prepared to alter, adapt, and modify their behavior, strategy,
     and tactics as circumstances warrant. Failure to consider new
     methods and implement them as necessary will make the government's
     efforts at suppression uncomplicated. It is the duty of every
     patriot to make the tyrant's life miserable. When one fails to do so
     he not only fails himself, but his people.
     [INLINE] With this in mind, current methods of resistance to tyranny
     employed by those who love our race, culture, and heritage must pass
     a litmus test of soundness. Methods must be objectively measured as
     to their effectiveness, as well as to whether they make the
     government's intention of repression more possible or more
     difficult. Those not working to aid our objectives must be
     discarded, or the government benefits from our failure to do so.
     [INLINE] As honest men who have banded together into groups or
     associations of a political or religious nature are falsely labeled
     "domestic terrorists" or "cultists" and suppressed, it will become
     necessary to consider other methods of organization, or as the case
     may very well call for: non- organization.
     [INLINE] One should keep in mind that it is not in the government's
     interest to eliminate all groups. Some few must remain in order to
     perpetuate the smoke and mirrors for the masses that America is a
     "free democratic country" where dissent is allowed. Most
     organizations, however, that possess the potential for effective
     resistance will not be allowed to continue. Anyone who is so naive
     as to believe the most powerful government on earth will not crush
     any who pose a real threat to that power, should not be active, but
     rather at home studying political history.
     [INLINE] The question as to who is to be left alone and who is not,
     will be answered by how groups and individuals deal with several
     factors such as: avoidance of conspiracy plots, rejection of
     feebleminded malcontents, insistence upon quality of the
     participants, avoidance of all contact with the front men for the
     federals - the news media - and, finally, camouflage (which can be
     defined as the ability to blend in the public's eye the more
     committed groups of resistance with mainstream "kosher" associations
     that are generally seen as harmless).
     [INLINE] Primarily though, whether any organization is allowed to
     continue in the future will be a matter of how big a threat a group
     represents. Not a threat in terms of armed might or political
     ability, for there is none of either for the present, but rather,
     threat in terms of potentiality. It is potential the federals fear
     most. Whether that potential exists in an individual or group is
     incidental. The federals measure potential threat in terms of what
     might happen given a situation conducive to action on the part of a
     resistive organization or individual. Accurate intelligence
     gathering allows them to assess the potential. Showing one's hand
     before the bets are made is a sure way to lose.
     [INLINE] The movement for freedom is rapidly approaching the point
     where, for many people, the option of belonging to a group will be
     non-existent. For others, group membership will be a viable option
     for only the immediate future. Eventually, and perhaps much sooner
     than most believe possible, the price paid for membership will
     exceed any perceived benefit. But for now, some of the groups that
     do exist often serve a useful purpose either for the newcomer who
     can be indoctrinated into the ideology of the struggle, or for
     generating positive propaganda to reach potential freedom fighters.
     It is sure that, for the most part, this struggle is rapidly
     becoming a matter of individual action, each of its participants
     making a private decision in the quietness of his heart to resist:
     to resist by any means necessary.
     [INLINE] It is hard to know what others will do, for no man truly
     knows another man's heart. It is enough to know what one himself
     will do. A great teacher once said "know thyself." Few men really
     do, but let each of us promise ourselves not to go quietly to the
     fate our would-be masters have planned.
     [INLINE] The concept of leaderless resistance is nothing less than a
     fundamental departure in theories of organization. The orthodox
     scheme of organization is diagrammatically represented by the
     pyramid, with the mass at the bottom and the leader at the top. This
     fundamental of organization is to be seen not only in armies, which
     are, of course, the best illustration of the pyramid structure, with
     the mass of soldiery (the privates) at the bottom responsible to
     corporals; who are in turn responsible to sergeants, and so on up
     the entire chain of command to the generals at the top. But the same
     structure is seen in corporations, ladies' garden clubs, and in our
     political system itself. This orthodox "pyramid" scheme of
     organization is to be seen basically in all existing political,
     social, and religious structures in the world today, from the
     Federal government to the Roman Catholic Church.
     [INLINE] The Constitution of the United States, in the wisdom of the
     Founders, tried to sublimate the essential dictatorial nature
     pyramidal organization by dividing authority into three: executive,
     legislative, and judicial. But the pyramid remains essentially
     untouched.
     [INLINE] This scheme of organization, the pyramid, is not only
     useless, but extremely dangerous for the participants when it is
     utilized in a resistance movement against state tyranny. Especially
     is this so in technologically advanced societies where electronic
     surveillance can often penetrate the structure, thus revealing its
     chain of command. Experience has revealed over and over again that
     anti-state political organizations utilizing this method of command
     and control are easy prey for government infiltration, entrapment,
     and destruction of the personnel involved. This has been seen
     repeatedly in the United States where pro-government infiltrators or
     agent provocateurs weasel their way into patriotic groups and
     destroy them from within.
     [INLINE] In the pyramid form of organization, an infiltrator can
     destroy anything which is beneath his level of infiltration, and
     often those above him as well. If the traitor has infiltrated at the
     top, then the entire organization from the top down is compromised
     and may be traduced at will.
     
     
     "Leaderless Resistance" -- Part Two
     
     [IMAGE] A recent example of the cell system taken from the left wing
     of politics are the Communists. The Communists, in order to get
     around the obvious problems involved in pyramidal organization,
     developed to an art the cell system. They had numerous independent
     cells which operated completely isolated from one another and
     particularly with no knowledge of each other, but were orchestrated
     together by a central headquarters. For instance, during WWII, in
     Washington, it is known that there were at least six secret
     Communist cells operating at high levels in the United States
     government (plus all the open Communists who were protected and
     promoted by President Roosevelt), however, only one of the cells was
     rooted out and destroyed. How many more actually were operating, no
     one can say for sure.
     [INLINE] The Communist cells which operated in the U.S. until late
     1991 under Soviet control could have at their command a leader who
     held a social position which appeared to be very lowly. He could be,
     for example, a busboy in a restaurant, but in reality a colonel or a
     general in the Soviet Secret Service, the KGB. Under him could be a
     number of cells, and a person active in one cell would almost never
     have knowledge of individuals who were active in other cells; in
     fact, the members of the other cells would be supporting that cell
     which was under attack and ordinarily would lend very strong support
     to it in many ways. This is at least part of the reason, no doubt,
     that whenever in the past Communists were attacked in this country,
     support for them sprang up in many unexpected places.
     [INLINE] The effective and efficient operation of a cell system
     after the Communist model is, of course, dependent upon central
     direction, which means impressive organization, funding from the
     top, and outside support, all of which the Communists had.
     Obviously, American patriots have none of these things at the top or
     anywhere else, and so an effective cell organization based upon the
     Soviet system of operation is impossible.
     [INLINE] Two things become clear from the above discussion. First,
     that the pyramid form of organization can be penetrated quite easily
     and it thus is not a sound method of organization in situations
     where the government has the resources and desire to penetrate the
     structure, which is the situation in this country. Secondly, that
     the normal qualifications for the cell structure based upon the Red
     model does not exist in the U.S. for patriots. This understood, the
     question arises "What method is left for those resisting state
     tyranny?"
     [INLINE] The answer comes from Col. Amoss who proposed the "Phantom
     Cell" mode of organization which he described as Leaderless
     Resistance. A system of organization that is based upon the cell
     organization, but does not have any central control or direction,
     that is in fact almost identical to the methods used by the
     committees of correspondence during the American Revolution.
     Utilizing the Leaderless Resistance concept, all individuals and
     groups operate independently of each other, and never report to a
     central headquarters or single leader for direction or instruction,
     as would those who belong to a typical pyramid organization.
     [INLINE] At first glance, such a form of organization seems
     unrealistic, primarily because there appears to be no organization.
     The natural question thus arises as to how are the "Phantom Cells"
     and individuals to cooperate with each other when there is no
     inter-communication or central direction?
     [INLINE] The answer to this question is that participants in a
     program of leaderless resistance through "Phantom Cell" or
     individual action must know exactly what they are doing and how to
     do it. It becomes the responsibility of the individual to acquire
     the necessary skills and information as to what is to be done. This
     is by no means as impractical as it appears, because it is certainly
     true that in any movement all persons involved have the same general
     outlook, are acquainted with the same philosophy, and generally
     react to given situations in similar ways. The previous history of
     the committees of correspondence during the American Revolution
     shows this to be true.
     [INLINE] Since the entire purpose of leaderless resistance is to
     defeat state tyranny (at least in so far as this essay is
     concerned), all members of phantom cells or individuals will tend to
     react to objective events in the same way through usual tactics of
     resistance. Organs of information distribution such as newspapers,
     leaflets, computers, etc., which are widely available to all, keep
     each person informed of events, allowing for a planned response that
     will take many variations. No one need issue an order to anyone.
     Those idealists truly committed to the cause of freedom will act
     when they feel the time is ripe, or will take their cue from others
     who precede them. While it is true that much could be said against
     this kind of structure as a method of resistance, it must be kept in
     mind that leaderless resistance is a child of necessity. The
     alternatives to it have been shown to be unworkable or impractical.
     Leaderless resistance has worked before in the American Revolution,
     and if the truly committed put it to use themselves, it will work
     now.
     [INLINE] It goes almost without saying that Leaderless Resistance
     leads to very small or even one-man cells of resistance. Those who
     join organizations to play "let's pretend" or who are "groupies"
     will quickly be weeded out. While for those who are serious about
     their opposition to federal despotism, this is exactly what is
     desired.
     [INLINE] From the point of view of tyrants and would-be potentates
     in the federal bureaucracy and police agencies, nothing is more
     desirable than that those who oppose them be UNIFIED in their
     command structure, and that EVERY person who opposes them belong to
     a pyramid style group. Such groups and organizations are easy to
     kill. Especially in light of the fact that the Justice (sic)
     Department promised in 1987 that there would never be another group
     to oppose them that they did not have at least one informer in!
     These federal "friends of government" are ZOG or ADL intelligence
     agents. They gather information that can be used at the whim of a
     federal D.A. to prosecute. The line of battle has been drawn.
     [INLINE] Patriots are REQUIRED, therefore, to make a conscious
     decision to either aid the government in its illegal spying (by
     continuing with old methods of organization and resistance), or to
     make the enemy's job more difficult by implementing effective
     countermeasures.
     [INLINE] Now there will, no doubt, be mentally handicapped people
     out there who will state emphatically in their best red, white, and
     blue voice, while standing at a podium with an American flag draped
     in the background and a lone eagle soaring in the sky above, that,
     "So what if the government is spying? We are not violating any
     laws." Such crippled thinking by any serious person is the best
     example that there is a need for special education classes. The
     person making such a statement is totally out of contact with
     political reality in this country, and unfit for leadership of
     anything more than a dog sled in the Alaskan wilderness. The old
     "Born on the Fourth of July" mentality that has influenced so much
     of the Aryan-American Patriot's thinking in the past will not save
     him from the government in the future. "Reeducation" for
     non-thinkers of this kind will take place in the federal prison
     system where there are no flags or eagles, but an abundance of men
     who were "not violating any laws.".
     [INLINE] Most groups who "unify" their disparate associates into a
     single structure have short political lives. Therefore, those
     movement leaders constantly calling for unity of organization,
     rather than the desirable Unity of Purpose, usually fall into one of
     three categories:
    1. They may not be sound political tacticians, but rather, just
       committed men who feel unity would help their cause, while not
       realizing that the government would greatly benefit from such
       efforts. The Federal objective, to imprison or destroy all who
       oppose them, is made easier in pyramid organizations.
       
    2. Or, perhaps, they do not fully understand the struggle they are
       involved in, and that the government they oppose has declared a
       state of war against those fighting for faith, folk, freedom,
       property and constitutional liberty. Those in power will use any
       means to rid themselves of opposition.
       
    3. The third class calling for unity, and let us hope this is the
       minority of the three, are men more desirous of the supposed power
       that a large organization would bestow, than of actually achieving
       their stated purpose.
       
     [INLINE] Conversely, the LAST thing federal snoops want, if they had
     any choice in the matter, is a thousand different small phantom
     cells opposing them. It is easy to see why. Such a situation is an
     intelligence nightmare for a government intent upon knowing
     everything they possibly can about those who oppose them. The
     Federals, able to amass overwhelming strength of numbers, manpower,
     resources, intelligence gathering, and capability at any given time,
     need only a focal point to direct their anger [ie Waco]. A single
     penetration of a pyramid style organization can lead to the
     destruction of the whole. Whereas, leaderless resistance presents no
     single opportunity for the Federals to destroy a significant portion
     of the resistance.
     [INLINE] With the announcement of the Department of Justice (sic)
     that 300 FBI agents formerly assigned to watching Soviet spies in
     the U.S. (domestic counter-intelligence) are now to be used to
     "combat crime," the federal government is preparing the way for a
     major assault upon those persons opposed to their policies. Many
     anti-government groups dedicated to the preservation of the America
     of our Forefathers can expect shortly to feel the brunt of a new
     federal assault upon liberty.
     [INLINE] It is clear, therefore, that it is time to rethink
     traditional strategy and tactics when it comes to opposing state
     tyranny, where the rights now accepted by most as being inalienable
     will disappear. Let the coming night be filled with a thousand
     points of resistance. Like the fog which forms when conditions are
     right, and disappears when they are not, so must the resistance to
     tyranny be.
     
     Leaderless Resistance first appeared in The Seditionist in 1992. The
     author, Louis Beam, is one of the most respected racialist leaders
     in the world (within racialist circles, that is), and has
     established his own homepage to distribute his work.
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     Texts Archive: Breakthrough Texts