Posted on 10/15/2001 5:44:48 PM PDT by Merovingian
Backwoods militias suspected of being behind biowar threat IAN BRUCE
THE FBI's domestic terrorism unit is investigating the possible role of illegal militia groups in the spate of anthrax outbreaks in Florida and New York.
Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber who killed 168 people when he blew up a federal building in 1995, was a supporter of one such group, the National Alliance.
Others have threatened to use biological weapons, including anthrax, botulism, and ricin, in their struggle against what they see as a global conspiracy between the US administration and the United Nations to disarm and enslave them. Every state has its own "patriot" group of disaffected right-wing Christian radicals opposed to central government and federal regulations. Most are organised along paramilitary lines.
The FBI estimates their numbers at up to 40,000, with the larger militias in backwoods country areas. They claim they are mobilising to fight the "New World Order".
In places like Idaho, Texas, Montana and West Virginia, they wear army surplus camouflage uniforms and train with assault rifles and explosives against the day when they might have to defend themselves against direct interference from the federal authorities.
They range in outlook from Pat Robertson, a failed 1988 presidential candidate, with his vision of a "Christian America" to the sinister Posse Comitatus, Aryan Nations and Minnesota Patriots' Council, who favour armed insurrection.
All have links with the National Rifle Association, the influential lobby group which represents weapons' manufacturers, hunters and gun clubs and campaigns for the right of all Americans "to own and bear arms".
There is some doubt as to whether this right is enshrined legally in the American constitution but the NRA has powerful supporters in both senate and congress and no-one has yet managed successfully to challenge the all-pervasive nationwide gun culture.
Most of the militias' philosophy is based on white-supremacist principles, looking down on blacks as "mud people" and Jews as instigators of the global plot against them and manipulators of the world economy for their own benefit.
Despite their redneck reputation, they have developed a sophisticated communications network using computer e-mail, shortwave radio, and fax. The North American Patriots, a group with members from California to Kansas, publish a newsletter entitled Firearms and Freedom.
After the disastrous FBI storming of the Branch Davidian headquarters in Waco, Texas, and the Ruby Ridge stand-off fiasco, where an FBI sniper killed an unarmed woman in a mountain cabin, the militias have turned to the threat of biological weapons to up the ante.
In January 1999, police and security forces responded to 30 anthrax hoaxes in southern California alone. Since then, there have been thousands of false alarms across the country.
Many aimed at government buildings, including deliveries of envelopes containing suspicious white powder, were militia inspired. Others targeting schools, hospitals or newspapers were sent by disgruntled former employees or jilted lovers.
However, the FBI has never discounted the possibility someone might lay hands on lethal biological agents. In 1992, two members of the Minnesota Patriots' Council were arrested carrying vials of ricin, an extremely dangerous toxin. They intended to use the substance to kill police officers over a local feud.
Larry Wayne Harris of the Aryan Nations managed to buy samples of bubonic plague over the internet. Fortunately, the plague bacteria were inert.
Three members of the Republic of Texas bought what they thought was anthrax in 1998. It turned out to be anthrax serum, the liquid used to inoculate people against the infection.
An FBI source said yesterday that up to 80% of the weapons of mass destruction inquiries carried out in the last few years involved the threat of anthrax.
Before the death of a British-born newspaperman in Florida last week, only 28 people in the US had died from effects of the bacterium in the last 100 years.
Before biowar became a potentially popular hobby, anthrax was known as "wool-shearer's disease" because it had been contracted only by farmworkers in close contact with sheep, a prime carrier of the infection.
An FBI source said: "We can never rule out al Qaeda's possible role in the current deliberate spread of anthrax. It is causing more panic than anything else and has not, thankfully, been disseminated in a very efficient way if the object was to inflict casualties.
"But our own militias may also have a hand in some or all of the incidents. Copycats and hoaxers could also be having a field day. The problem is, we just can't afford to drop our guard."
-Oct 16th
The Malaysia and Trenton postmarks have already been mentioned.
But don't forget that two of the Florida based hijackers rented homes from the wife of one of editors of the Sun tabloid. That coincidence is a bit of a stretch!!
And moreover, a pharmacist in Boca Raton reported Mohammed Atta came desperately seeking Cipro antibiotics, and he had red chemical burned hands, as if he had been washing them in bleach....
Now why would Atta be washing his hands in bleach, and looking for Cipro?
Nah....it must be right wing gun nut militias....
Yes eventually they would come after us but you have to look at the positive side of things----they've already stopped the Emmy's, they have frightened the news anchors like the American right never would have dreamed possible....plus if somehow the Muslims do win---Hillary, Janet Reno, and all their feminists friends would be covering their faces with veils. Hillary would even be required to walk 3 feet behind Bill.
I dealt with a few jerks who could possibly be similar to McVeigh before when they disrupted an event I was at(One was a Geoff Fieger type, but on the other side of the tin foil fence). They wouldn't go after Dashale(Unless they were from South Dakota). They would have bigger fish to fry. I have my ideas on what they would target, but I sure as hell ain't posting them here since I don't want to give them any ideas. I don't think it would be Anthrax either. If 4 or 5 paticular targets or individuals are hit, I'd be worried about it.
As for the media, the hardliners hate the media, and FOX was hit as well. Fox isn't exactly left wing. Trenton NJ isn't a right wing area, either.
I think it may be homegrown, but my money as of now is homegrown Jihadists.
As a former member of a militia, I would suggest you learn a little something about the patriot movement before you start name calling and branding....you are doing exactly what the powers that be want...demonizing patriotic Americans.
My brothers and I are family men and tax payers. Almost without exception other members were as well. I am an Aerospace Engineer working in the hydraulic industry now. I attend a non-denominational church and volunteer to help with sound equipment break down after the service. Hell! I even sing and clip my toe nails. I worry about keeping a good coating of paint on my house, my grass cut and have just recently made a solid commitment to learn how to put my 3 year old daughter's hair in pig tail cuz I think it's cute that way. I'm a single Dad.
We are all Americans. Some Americans have seen this BS coming down the pipe for many years now...and from most appearances it appears to be almost on top of us.
The type of people you call 'bozos' are the ones taking off on weekends to train with buddies in case the powers that be decide elections are too much work from now on. We are the ones who donate our time and money to other worthy cause around our localities. We are concerned about the direction our government has been going and have joined up to provide a common defense. This is no different than in colonial times. The only minor difference is the patriot and the tyrant are no longer seperated by ocean.
Know this...the patriot militia member is a pro-active American that has taken the initiative and stepped forward with courage to stand up for the Constitution and Liberty. Without true patriots your fathers would have been slaves to tyrany and so will your children.
Patriots are dangerous people...they think for themselves and are pro-active. They are self starters, but defensive self-starters. They are also Americans. Powers that be bent on tyrany don't like self-starters. American self-starters threaten the NWO. Yet they are still Americans....first they must be demonized, then they can be taken out....then the rest will fall into place.
Please think before you blindly follow. The good Lord gave you a brain to sort fact from fiction, right from wrong....use it!
Attacks on Daschle (a liberal democrat that many feel is ultra liberal), a Kennedy (Patrick), Brokaw - a liberal media person disliked by ultra right wingers and conservatives. The targets picked so far just do not ring true for mid-eastern terrorists attacks - rather more ultra right wing/militia types that hate all government, hate all policies that increase government surveillance, hate NATO, hate UN, hate coalitions.
Again, only speculation as is most everything else on FR. Don't get all excited.
I guess that's all just a coincidence.
Not all the members are bad, but I've met some bad ones, and I've met some former members who left and never looked back.
I'm more worried about the Nazi's than the 'militia', but there is always a few isolated individual nutcases out there.
I also look at this. A 'militia' type group(Not technically militia, but their leader was a leader of one) drew 10,000 to the capitol in 1994. They are had an estimation(mine) of maybe 75,000-100,000 sympathizers in Michigan as well. Today, that group doesn't get 100 people to their big rallies. People don't like their message, and there is a reason for that, more than the media. The 10,000 at the capitol heard it all with no spin from the media.
Now I'd say in Michigan that there are about 2,000 active militia(most in Macomb and St Clair County), and 10,000 sympathizers.
Most of time, it's not even really the message, but how it is delivered. If you took a real poll(non media), most Americans support the 2nd amendment. I think most do not like the UN, and I think most back less government. Common views.
BTW - I'm curious, why did you leave the militia?
Interesting company that Rivero keeps. I hope his apologists are paying attention.
Well that's not quite true now is it. There is a link between one of the targets and one of the 9/11 terrorists, for one thing. There is the Arabic writing, references to "Allah" and "Israel", on the envelopes, for another. There is the dead hijacker who showed signs of anthrax infection, for a third.
Then we stack those up against - what? - the (D) after Senator Daschle's name. Perhaps you can see why it irks me somewhat that everyone's jumping on the "right-wing extremists" bandwagon...
Attacks on Daschle (a liberal democrat that many feel is ultra liberal),
First of all I see nothing "liberal" about Senator Daschle. He's a left-winger, not "liberal". But more importantly, he's not considered so "left wing" by more extreme left-wingers in the first place. Don't believe me?
Here is an article on the World Socialist Web Site complaining about the bankruptcy reform bill of last year, which closes by complaining that: "Collusion between major credit card companies and politicians is, however, not limited to the Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle was among the majority of Senate Democrats who voted for the bankruptcy measure. His state of South Dakota is home to a Citigroup Inc. credit card operation in Sioux Falls. Daschle has received $45,000 in political contributions from Citigroup in the last six years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics." I guess they don't like him either. After all he's such a sellout and a tool of big business, against the common man.
Maybe they did it? In fact, that's what I think. I think the World Socialists did it.
There, now we have enough "evidence" to write a rebuttal article to the one which started this thread, titled "World Socialists suspected of being behind biowar threat". Because after all, they are "suspected" by me... ;)
Can't you see why the irresponsibility of this whole thing bothers me a little bit?
Brokaw - a liberal media person disliked by ultra right wingers and conservatives.
Again, while we on the right may think of Brokaw as left-wing (not "liberal"!) biased, that doesn't mean that everyone does.
Here is an article complaining about the "right-wing media" which has some pretty harsh words for Brokaw ("And you Brokaw, you slackjawed little punk, if I here so much as a whimper out of you, you'll get a swift bamboo whack across your cheeks") for "protecting conservative politicians".
The targets picked so far just do not ring true for mid-eastern terrorists attacks
Again, this is just lazy thinking. Is it so perplexing to you why mid-eastern terrorists would want to attack the Senate Majority Leader, the most important legislator in the country?
Is it so perplexing to you why they would attack a tabloid which ran a story saying that Osama had a small penis?
Is it so perplexing to you why they would attack NBC and Fox, when they consider basically all mainstream American media outlets to be biased towards Israel?
Just think about it some. This argument from ignorance ("At the moment I just can't think of why extreme Islamicists would want to attack those people...") is simply pathetic.
rather more ultra right wing/militia types that hate all government, hate all policies that increase government surveillance, hate NATO, hate UN, hate coalitions.
Uh, whatever. Now you've lost me. I mean the way you describe what right-wingers stand for is accurate enough. But, have NATO targets been attacked w/anthrax? UN? "coalition"? In fact it sounds like you simply have a bone to pick with right-wingers. Perhaps you ought to work out these issues in some other way.
The fact that Tom Daschle is part of the government is simply not a very good reason to think he must have been attack by right-wingers because they hate the government. Right-wingers do not have a monopoly on hating the government. What about left-wing "anti-globalist" anarchists such as the ones who rioted in Seattle?
Or for that matter: What about Islamic terrorists? Hmmm? They don't exactly love our government.
Again, only speculation as is most everything else on FR. Don't get all excited.
I know it's speculation and that's exactly my point. You call it "only speculation" in an attempt to belittle it, but perhaps you don't realize that what you are doing is playing into the hands of people who care more about using this issue to scapegoat conservatives than they care about stopping terrorism. This "speculation" is not completely harmless. It's nasty, corrosive, divisive stuff, which is why I'm trying to nip it in the bud where I can.
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