Time To Go After American Extremists

“Should homegrown terrorism be targeted?

Salim Muwakkil. Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor at In These Times
Published December 24, 2001

The spores in the anthrax-by-mail attacks that killed five people and panicked Congress into passing police-state legislation have been identified as homegrown. This confirms the suspicions of many and suggests that our war on terrorism should open a domestic front.

If the tactic of terrorism were truly the enemy, we might be deploying our armed forces to Mill Point, W. Va., or Hayden Lake, Idaho. Those towns are just two in the U.S. known to harbor leaders who have inspired terrorist networks that have killed Americans, committed numerous armed robberies, engaged in shootouts with police and still advocate an overthrow of the federal government.

Just as we targeted the Taliban's "spiritual capital" of Kandahar, we might well be targeting Elohim City,an isolated enclave in the Ozark Mountains of eastern Oklahoma. Many see this religious community as the spiritual capital of a theological doctrine that, experts say, inspires and unites the nation's indigenous terrorist networks.

Mill Point is the home of William Pierce, leader of the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi group that openly espouses the liquidation of all non-whites in the U.S. Pierce, under the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald, also is the author of "The Turner Diaries," a 1978 book cited by government testimony as Timothy McVeigh's "blueprint" for the Oklahoma City bombing.

Pierce also was the mentor of Robert Matthews, whose group, The Silent Brotherhood (also called the Order), committed a series of robberies, bombed synagogues and killed Denver radio talk-show host Alan Berg in 1984. His group is an offshoot of the Aryan Nations, based in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Matthews, who burned to death in a 1984 FBI standoff, pointedly credited "The Turner Diaries" as his inspiration.

The racist right argues that the U.S. government is so corrupted by Jewish

interests (they call it ZOG, for Zionist Occupied Government), it must be overthrown. To accomplish this, Pierce's book illustrates the value of a so-called "leaderless resistance" strategy in which dedicated individuals form small cells that get their signals from leaders with whom they have little or no contact.

Sounds a bit like Al Qaeda, huh?

And the similarities don't stop there. Many of these far-right, racist groups also profess belief in a religious doctrine that justifies terrorism. This doctrine is called "Christian Identity," and it teaches that Aryans or "white" people are those chosen by God, Jews are the spawn of Satan and non-whites are barely human "mud people." Homosexuality is punishable by death.

According to Michael Barkun, whose book "Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement" is considered the definitive study of the phenomenon, the "virulent, anti-Semitic theology . . . is the `glue' of the racist right."

This fractured version of Christianity is the core belief system for a host of far-right groups, from the Posse Comitatus, to the Aryan Nation to the Confederate Hammerskins (a skinhead group), to the Order. The Center for Democratic Renewal, a group that monitors the growth of right-wing extremism, noted in a 1996 report on Christian Identity theology, "instead of `Mein Kampf,' Identity uses the Bible as the source of its ideology."

And this doctrine is well-known to the U.S. government. In 1999, the FBI completed a report entitled "Project Megiddo" that described Christian Identity as "a belief system that provides its members with a religious basis for racism and an ideology that condones violence against non-Aryans."

The "Project Megiddo" report also noted a new tenet gaining popularity among Christian Identity believers that justifies the use of violence to punish violators of God's law, as they interpret it. "This includes killing interracial couples, abortionists, prostitutes and homosexuals, and robbing banks and perpetrating frauds to undermine the `usury system.' "

The striking similarities between radical Islamicist of Al Qaeda and the Christian Identity adherents of the Aryan Nation make clear the ecumenical pull of religious fanaticism.

It now seems likely that some elements of the racist right may have used anthrax attacks to hitchhike on Sept. 11 hysteria. After all, our indigenous fascists have long demonstrated affection for bioterrorism. Since the early 1980s, members of various far-right movements have been apprehended with substances as varied as anthrax to ricin (a deadly poison made from castor beans), to bubonic bacteria.

So, if this war really is on terrorism and not just on Islamic extremism, our government should also be looking homeward.

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E-mail: salim4x@aol.com

Copyright © 2001, http://chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/oped/chi-0112240204dec24.story?coll=chi%2Dnewsopinioncommentary%2Dhed " target="_blank">Chicago Tribune”

“Hey, you're really starting to get the hang of this...”

“According to various media American Special Forces searching the caves in Afghanistan report finding NRA printed shooting targets, NRA firearm manuals, and NRA shooting instruction materials. Also found were outdoor survival manuals from the U.S. Army and educational camping/backpacking materials from various American manufacturers like North Face, Coleman, and REI.

So do we target EVERY domestic organization that assisted the terrorists?”

“Wait a minute, how do they know they're homegrown?

Chemical tracers? (cool)”

“And why are we ignoring the camps in Lebenon? They aren't even on our "to do" list.”

“Nigal, while I don't entirely disagree,,,,,,I do have to wonder where the stopping point would be if we started a mission to "totally" wipe out terrorism. At some point there has to be a line of distinction......where do we draw it?”

“I agree with chili. Where do we draw the line? The White House?”

“What can people like us do about things like this.How do we get our point across to the goverment.”

“Terrorism is in the eye of the beholder.
Remember ronnie reagan and Central America?

The difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is whether they align with your ideology or not.”

“Alot of people think Im and extremist. Cause i wear combat boots have a tricked out 4x4 with extra lights, and sort of look alternative. Im not a skinhead or anything though.”

“Now wait just a minute there. Just because Republican right-wing extremists are killing like terrorists, doesn't make them terrorists. I see nothing wrong with NRA members killing their co-workers and families... it's protected by the 2nd Amendment. Bombing and terrorizing abortion clinics is God's work. And sending anthrax in the mail to Daschle and Leahy is a great way of letting your congressional leaders know wht you think. Besides, it kind of helps the Republican conservative cause. I prefer to call these "freedom fighters." Only if you kill republicans will I consider you a "terrorist."”

“If we are going to eliminate all domestic terrorist groups can we start with the sierra club?”

“That's the highest priority of Republicans... eliminate our opponents.”

“Watch out Rad, "they" R commin ta git ya! LOL”

“lol. What about Earth First and Greenpiece?

J/K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (solitary hiker and lizs, don't get yer panties in a bind)”

“iluvbackpacking, you can vote and write letters to your congress people. or you could become famous and get lots of air time on some large television network and then speak your mind.”

“oh wait- granolas don't wear panties

heh heh heh”

“Hey! I support Earth First.

We'll log and mine the other planets later.”

“Gordon, I agree with your earlier statement.

Terrorist for one country is a hero for another.

This is all academic...isn't the world supposed to end in a few years?”

“Depends on who you ask. Astrophysicists say 5 billion years.

Ah, those Freedom Fighters! I think we should throw a big Jim Jones Kool-aid Party for the Timothy McVeigh types.”

“I think many of these domestic radical groups can be characterized as political 'cults'. The members are not necessarily evil people but have been brainwashed into a demented ideology. They should be rounded up on any charges that can be made to stick and sent to re-education centers.”

“"They should be rounded up on any charges that can be made to stick and sent to re-education centers."

Violin
09:07:17 AM
12/31/01


T.I.C. I hope, Violin?”

“Don't forget the electroshock... and the Red capsules...”

“This thread highlights what I hate most about all this post 911 crap.

People can't resist the opportunity to take advantage of our grief. Be it the salesman on the radio that insists I need to buy a new car if I'm a patriot, or the weenies mentioned in the opening post here who want gain advantage over those they disaggree with, or don't understand. Someone leapt over a huge chasm in logic on this one.

I'm much more worried about our country losing sight of our ideals (freedom and diversity) than any terrorist attacks.”

“Violin,
You worry about right wing extremists? Son you're beginning to sound like a former member of Pol Pot's Cambodian regime.”

“Losing our ideals? Le Subtil, a lot of people lost them a long time ago. Thats why behavior like what you've seen is possible.”