The Roots of the Leaderless Resistance Concept
Different investigative techniques with different levels of government intrusiveness are justified as appropriate depending on the specific social movement configurations of potential terrorists.
Accurate descriptions of targeted terrorist formations and potential terrorists and their ideology and methodology are crucial for the effectiveness of stopping actual acts of terrorism while abiding by Constitutional safeguards.
The terms “Leaderless Resistance” or “Phantom Cells” have a precise meaning: spontaneous, autonomous, unconnected cells seeking to carry out acts of violence, sabotage, or terrorism against a government or occupying military force.
The terms are frequently misused. The following slides depict a range of different cell structures, ending with examples of what a incorrectly called forms of “Leaderless Resistance.”
A variety of forms are reviewed in the slide show, as well as examples of what is not “Leaderless Resistance.”
View the Slide Show
Archival documents obtained through the Wisconsin Historical Society, Burlington (MA) Public Library, interlibrary loan, Michael Paulding, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Leaderless Counterterrorism Strategy:
The “War on Terror,” Civil Liberties, and Flawed Scholarship
The Public Eye Magazine. Read the Article.