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.
_______________________________________________________________
Texts Archive: Breakthrough Texts
