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| All-American Osamas |
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| jaihoon |
| 06/07/02 at 10:15:00 |
| All-American Osamas By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF ALISPELL, Mont. [NYTimes 07 06 02 Editorial/Op-Ed] We Americans have conjured so specific a vision of terrorists — swarthy, glowering Muslims mumbling fanatically about Allah — that we're missing the threat from home-grown nuts, people like David Burgert. Mr. Burgert, a 38-year-old who last made a living renting out snowmobiles here in this spectacularly beautiful nook of northwestern Montana, had a terror plan that made Osama bin Laden's look rinky-dink. Not content merely to kill a few thousand people, Mr. Burgert's nine-member militia was planning a violent revolution and civil war to overthrow the entire United States government. The plan, according to Sheriff James Dupont, was for the militia to use its machine guns, pipe bombs and 30,000 rounds of ammunition to assassinate 26 local officials (including Mr. Dupont), and then wipe out the National Guard when it arrived. After the panicked authorities sent in NATO troops, true American patriots would rise up, a ferocious war would ensue, and the U.S. would end up back in the hands of white Christians. "The good thing is that most of the people who would do it are so stupid that they would kill themselves first," said Sheriff Dupont, who runs the law here in rugged Flathead County, which is bigger than all of Connecticut and has lots more grizzly bears. But the litany of domestic militia plots, failed ones, is still sobering. In Michigan, militia members planned to bomb two federal buildings. Missourians planned to attack American military bases, starting with Fort Hood, Tex., on a day it opened to tens of thousands of visitors. California militia members planned to blow up a propane storage facility. Most unnerving, a Florida militia plotted to destroy a nuclear power plant. If these were Muslims who were forming militias and exchanging tips for making nerve gas, then we'd toss them in prison in an instant. But we're distracted by our own stereotypes, searching for Muslim terrorists in the Philippine jungle and the Detroit suburbs and forgetting that there are blond, blue-eyed mad bombers as well. We're making precisely the mistake that the Saudis did a few years ago: dismissing familiar violent fanatics as kooks. In fact, militia members and Al Qaeda members are remarkably similar. Both are galvanized by religious extremism (America's militias overlap with the Christian Identity movement, which preaches that Jews are the children of Satan and that people of color are sub-human), both see the United States government as utterly evil, and both are empowered by the information revolution that enables them to create networks, recruit disciples and trade recipes for bio- and chemical weapons. It would be a mistake to put one's faith in the militias' eternal incompetence. Jessica Stern of Harvard has written about an anti-government activist named James Dalton Bell, who earned a degree in chemistry from M.I.T. and is unquestionably brilliant. By age 14, he says, "I was studying the isomerization of benzyl thiocyanate to the isocyanate." Weren't we all? But Mr. Bell, who is now in jail, is also believed by the authorities to have manufactured sarin, a nerve gas, in his basement. He led a chemical attack against an I.R.S. office and wrote an Internet book called "Assassination Politics," which outlines a very clever scheme to pay for contract killings of federal officials with digital cash in a way that preserves anonymity at both ends. There is also evidence that Mr. Bell talked "hypothetically" of poisoning a city's water supply. The things you learn in Montana: According to militia members here, the World Trade Center attacks were a plot by the Feds to declare an emergency and abolish the Bill of Rights; the Columbine school shootings were a federal test of new mind-control technology; a map on a Kix cereal box shows the occupation zones Americans will be herded into after the United Nations takes over. Another thing you learn here is how to deal with grizzlies. Don't be so focused on a distant moose that you ignore the bear behind you. And if it charges, stand your ground until it's 10 feet away, then shoot pepper spray into its eyes, and — very quickly — step aside. Right now, I'm afraid that the Bush administration is so focused on the distant moose that we're oblivious to the local grizzlies like Dave Burgert creeping up on us. |
| Re: All-American Osamas |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| The good thing is that most of the people who would do it are so stupid that they would kill themselves first," said Sheriff this kind of answers the questions why americans do not fear these people. If these were Muslims who were forming militias and exchanging tips for making nerve gas, then we'd toss them in prison in an instant. also, the FBI has infiltrated these groups for years and have rounded them up, and when they do make some trouble such as ruby ridge and others, they get hammered. |
| Re: All-American Osamas |
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| mujaahid |
| 06/07/02 at 16:40:15 |
| [slm] Mike "this kind of answers the questions why americans do not fear these people" err...no. This answers the question why everyone else see's the Americans as so easily mislead! Of COURSE that officer is gona say those peolpe are "so stupid". Do you really belive he's gona come out and say "their is a major threat to our national security, thier is a plot to blow up buildings and assasinate dozens of political leaders"! It was cause chaos! So al they do is say 2dont worry about it, these guys couldn't steal candy from a baby" and the americans are like, wow, really? The pipe bomber has already shown he can carry out his attacks, the anthrax attacks are yet more proof these groups can do as they say. And the biggest bit of evidence you need as to thse groups abilities to strike is Timothy Mcveigh and the Oklahoma bombing. If after all these attacks you still believe the line of "these people are so stupid...." then...well your basically digging your own grave. "If these were Muslims who were forming militias and exchanging tips for making nerve gas, then we'd toss them in prison in an instant" ...or even if they were just muslims, it would be enough to toss them in prison, innocent or not, muslim means GUILTY, because Fox Mulder of the FBI said so. Get a grip Mike and start thinking for yourself. |
| Re: All-American Osamas |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 06/07/02 at 19:44:36 |
| Get a grip Mike and start thinking for yourself. ok, i got a grip and i just started thinking. But i am still coming up with the same answers. Since you have never been here, let me clue you in, these militia groups are all located in rural country areas such as montana, wyoming and the like (not that these aren't some of the most beautiful places in the world). They atract social outcasts and the like. Are they a threat? yes to a certain degree, but they have no backing financially and any backing they did have left with the Oklahoma City bombing. People that had sympathy for some of their causes have hugely jumped ship when they found out what it was leading to. This sounds like the story of Charles Manson wanting to start a race war, he had a following but they were all nut cases. Can all of it be stopped? no but it is wrong to say that the feds do not go after theses people but only go after muslims. Didnt the article say that MR. Bell and the like are in jail? or am i missing something? and easily mislead, we could talk alot about that one cant we? We're making precisely the mistake that the Saudis did a few years ago: dismissing familiar violent fanatics as kooks. gee, is he talking about OBL here? muj, you really need to come here and take a tour and see this place for yourself. Of COURSE that officer is gona say those peolpe are "so stupid". Do you really belive he's gona come out and say "their is a major threat to our national security, thier is a plot to blow up buildings and assasinate dozens of political leaders"! It was cause chaos! So al they do is say 2dont worry about it, these guys couldn't steal candy from a baby" and the americans are like, wow, really? if you knew, you would not make that point, americans as a general whole are very skeptical about everything, from governement to the media. I have no idea where you come up with your ideas about american culture, but to be honest, it is very entertaining. have a great weekend!!! |
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