Fighting Communist Organizations

The Fighting Communist Organizations (FCO)is the name given to various Terrorist organizations who operated in western Europe, Japan and America and whose objective was to bring about a Socialist Revolution and install Communist governments. These groups viewed Capitalism and Democracy as a corrupted system, which if attacked could be destroyed. The FCO were seen as a major threat by NATO and also by the Italian, German and British governments.

History and objectives
The FCO followed the tradition of "propaganda by the deed" as espoused by late 19th and early 20th century Anarchist groups. The majority of the FCO`s were founded in the 1970`s with their objective being the overthrow of democratic forms of government and the formation of communist dictatorships throughout Europe. These groups rose during the student union movement which was protesting against the Vietnam War and against the perceived exploitation of the Third World with the more militant minded splitting off to form the FCO. The founders of the FCO argued that it would take violence to achieve their idealistic goals and that legitimate protest was both ineffective and insufficient to attain them. Dennis Pluchinsky identified 13 principles which he says forms the core of their ideology.
 * 1. The world is viewed through “dialectical materialism,” the Marxist-Leninist approach to the analysis of history.
 * 2. Capitalism is the root cause of all the problems of the proletariat.
 * 3. Capitalism can only be displaced by force.
 * 4. The proletariat does not currently possess the necessary revolutionary consciousness to carry out the violent overthrow of the capitalist system.
 * 5. The traditional communist parties have forfeited their right to represent the proletariat.
 * 6. The fighting communist organizations are forced to fill the revolutionary void of traditional communist parties.
 * 7. In order to survive its present crisis, capitalism must resort to industrial “restructuring.”
 * 8. Imperialism is also in crisis.
 * 9. Western Europe serves as the “imperialist center” that is composed of a “chain of states,” manufactured by the United States.
 * 10. The latent fascist tendencies of the capitalist, imperialist state must be exposed to the proletariat.
 * 11. The revolutionary war against imperialism will be a long, protracted armed struggle.
 * 12. The revolutionary armed struggle consists of two phases. The first phase would armed propaganda phase, with three components: a revolutionary strategy, communist organization, and initiation of armed combat. The second and final the revolutionary civil war. The “armed propaganda” phase reflects the anarchist propaganda by the deed” concept.
 * 13. The next revolutionary stage for an FCO is the “fighting Communist party.”"

The groups were at the height of their power in 1984 to 1985 with seven FCO operating in six countries. At this time European governments feared the FCO were forming an alliance. During the late 1980`s however Italy, Belgium, France and Portugal had neutralized the groups operating within their respective countries. The majority of FCO groups have now broken up due to arrests by local police forces and EUROPOL and the fall of the Soviet Union

Tactics employed
These terrorist organizations have all used the following tactics, secrecy and the willingness to commit murder in the pursuit of their goals and a strict adherence to the Marxist-Leninist ideology. All use cellular compartmentalized structures and operate within an urban environment. There was an obvious decrease in the intellectual justification for their actions and increased recruitment from both the working classes and from criminal gangs.

They have been held responsible for attacks on NATO facilities and personal, setting bombs in schools and with the kidnapping and murdering of NATO personnel. The kidnapping of James L. Dozier was one of the most notable attacks on NATO personnel with the brigader being held for 42 days before being rescued.

Bombings, kneecappings, assassinations, arson and kidnappings were some of the tactics employed by these groups.

The Anti-Imperialist Armed Front
The Anti-Imperialist Armed Front was an alliance of three FCO. Actione Direct (AD) of France the Red Army Faction (RAF) of Germany and the Communist Combatant Cells (CCC) from Belgium. This group carried out bombing attacks on NATO pipelines in 1984 to 1985. The RAF carried out six attacks on pipelines in Germany. The CCC targeted six pumping stations on the 3700mile long pipeline which spanned Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and Germany. The attacks resulted in the pipeline being shut down for a 48hr period. There were no armed attacks on personnel from this group and this is believed to be due to the CCC having an aversion to excessive violence. The AD bombed the corporate offices of the Elf Aquitaine oil company in Paris.

Groups
The groups listed here have all been described as Fighting communist organizations and as having commited terrorist acts.

Action directe
Action directe (AD) were a French terrorist organization which committed a series of assassinations and violent attacks in France between 1979 and 1987. They began operations with an attack on the headquarters of the association of french industrialists on the 1st of may 1979.

Communist Combatant Cells
Cellules Communistes Combattantes (CCC; Communist Combatant Cells) were a Belgian group which operated in the mid 1980`s for two years.

First of October Anti-Fascist resistance Groups (GRAPO)
The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups operated out of Spain. They were formed in 1975 as the military wing of the illegal Spanish communist party (PCE-r). This group has been held responsible for the deaths of an estimated 25 people and have carried out attacks on US and Spanish military bases and government facilitys. They have executed police officers and members of the judiciary.

Forças Populares 25 de Abril
The Popular Forces 25 April operated out of Portugal. They formed in 1980 and have attacked Portuguese government and economic targets. They have also targeted NATO and US facilities.

Japanese Red Army
Japanese Red Army This group were a splinter of the student group Zenga Kuren They have kidnapped government officials, murdered civilians, taken hostages and hijacked aircraft.

Nuclei Territoriali Antimperialisti
Anti-Imperialist Territorial Nuclei (NTA) formed in 1995 and have adopted the class struggle of the red brigade. This group has targeted property rather than people with arson and bombing attacks.

Red Army Faction
The Red Army Faction (RAF), founded in May of 1970 and which in its early stages was known in the media as the Baader-Meinhof gang were a German terrorist group. They attacked United States military bases and robbed banks killing six people.

2nd June Movement
The 2nd June Movement had separate origins to the RAF but the two groups merged. They were held responsible for assassinations and kidnappings.

Red Brigades
Red Brigades of all the FCO groups the Red Brigades have been described as the worst offenders with 75 assassinations 115 attempted assassinations and 17 kidnappings. and they have been described as the most ruthless terrorist group in Europe.

Revolutionary Organization 17 November
The Revolutionary Organization 17 November operated out of Greece and began terrorist actions on 23 December 1975 when they claimed responsibility for the murder of the CIA station chief whom they shot in front of his wife in Athens. They have conducted what has been described as "One of the most protracted and intransigent of all ideological terrorist campaigns in Western Europe"

Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front
The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front operated out of Turkey. The group follows a strong marxist ideology and is anti-NATO, anti-US and anti-western.

Weather Underground (organization)
The Weather Underground were a splinter group of the Militant Students for a Democratic Society. The group claimed responsibility for 25 bomb attacks. The group published a manifesto which they used to justify their actions and set out their goals, it was titled Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism in which they said. We are a guerrilla organization. We are communist women and men, underground in the United States for more than four years. We are deeply affected by the historic events of our time in the struggle against US imperialism. . . . Our intention is to disrupt the empire, to incapacitate it, to put pressure on the cracks, to make it hard to carry out its bloody functioning against the people of the world, to join the world struggle, to attack from the inside. . . . Our intention is to engage the enemy, to wear away at him, to isolate him, to expose every weakness. . . . Without mass struggle there can be no revolution Without armed struggle there can be no victory.

The Shining Path
The Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) were founded in 1980 and operate in Peru. This group has been described as on of the most dangerous of the Latin American terrorist organizations.