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  1. #1
    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Default Domestic political violence (USA)

    I just watched the news conference where the "Local Authorities" say there is no reason to believe it is terrorism,

    Read the Manifesto/Suicide note left by the pilot. Sounds like Domestic Terrorism to me.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586627,00.html

  2. #2
    Council Member Red Leg's Avatar
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    Default Burgeoning tax code

    While I certainly do not agree with his methods, his comments on the US tax code and Congress' conflict of interest vis-a-vis giant corporations (and their supporting lobbyists) are not wholly without merit.
    "The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple"
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  3. #3
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default I'm not sure it's terrorism

    If you accept this (LINK) as a reaonable definition, the act barely qualifies under the third alternative. I think it's more this:
    Last edited by Ken White; 10-27-2011 at 01:20 AM.

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    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    So, if a Muslim piloted a plane into a Federal building, would anyone question if this was a terrorist incident or not?

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    Council Member J Wolfsberger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tequila View Post
    So, if a Muslim piloted a plane into a Federal building, would anyone question if this was a terrorist incident or not?
    If he left the same parting missive, omitted mention of practicing Islam, and omitted the phrase "Alahu ahkbar," I wouldn't call it terrorism. I agree with Ken, and I think this was a guy with employment and tax problems who decided to go out with a parting shot at the organization he blamed for his problems.
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    Default

    I guess he didn't get the tax refund he was expecting.

    I'm with Ken and Wolf, but I would take it a step further. If this were a Muslim who slammed his plane into a government building because he was angry about our policies in the Mideast, I don't even think that would qualify as terrorism. Terrorism has a purpose of using fear and violence of achieve some political objective. If you're just lashing out at something that you hate, that's not terrorism. It's disenfranchisement, desperation, despair, anger, but not terrorism.

  7. #7
    Council Member AmericanPride's Avatar
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    Default Small Wars(s) in the United States

    With the recent shooting in Colorado Springs targeting Planned Parenthood, I am interested in discussing small war(s) in the U.S., or even if that concept is applicable to low-intensity conflict in the country. This issue was broached in 2012 with a Small Wars article that led to some national attention (it is humorous to me that it was widely condemned though armed gunmen have since challenged the federal government).

    Statistics are difficult to include since it would have to be drawn from multiple databases. Starting with the Global Terrorism Database would be good, and it lists 256 attacks in the U.S. between 2001 and 2014, of which 250 were by domestic groups. We probably could include a number of attacks against police officers and law enforcement. Other incidents, such as the Bundy Ranch standoff, can be read as a part of this topic.

    In looking over the distance of American history, there seems to be an on-going ebb and flow of a number of small war(s) that mix and match with each other, sometimes spilling over into violence, and sometimes fought overtly.

    - What makes the U.S. particularly successful at home in suppressing violent organizations (i.e. the Ku Klux Klan)? Or, similarly, what makes violent groups in the U.S. particularly ineffective?

    When I last looked at the statistics, the number of attacks has declined significantly since the 1970s, although the number of groups (particularly right-wing groups) appears to have proliferated. Notably absent are domestic Islamist groups.

    - What are some of the ideological dimensions of small war(s) in the U.S.?

    - What are some of the economic, social, and political causes?

    I am always drawn to the example of the Russian Revolution - particularly, the years leading up to it from about 1895 when the failure(s) of local Russian governance became explicit and profound. A combination of social and economic forces led to ideological revolution, industrialization, famine, and repression, producing whirlwind campaigns of terrorism against the state and state retaliation.

    There had been some discourse regarding the application of counterinsurgency tactics to street gangs. But I think that conversation is misplaced for the following reason: street gangs by and large do not have a political program nor desire to construct a counter-state, notwithstanding the revolutionary heritage of some gangs.
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    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    The Black Panthers and The Weather Underground /The Weathermen were the only true modern examples that I can think of that actually wanted to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States.

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    Quote Originally Posted by slapout9 View Post
    The Black Panthers and The Weather Underground /The Weathermen were the only true modern examples that I can think of that actually wanted to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States.
    Perhaps, but other groups have more limited objectives. The objectives of war do not have to be unlimited. Some war objectives may be focused on establishing a separate state. Some may be focused on a specific ethic group. Others may conduct attacks in hope of shaping U.S. foreign policy. The concept of war is not limited to state actors or massive military employment. There is a wide spectrum of war that we often fail to appreciate.

  10. #10
    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
    Perhaps, but other groups have more limited objectives. The objectives of war do not have to be unlimited. Some war objectives may be focused on establishing a separate state. Some may be focused on a specific ethic group. Others may conduct attacks in hope of shaping U.S. foreign policy. The concept of war is not limited to state actors or massive military employment. There is a wide spectrum of war that we often fail to appreciate.
    Which is why I listed the groups that I did. You should read up on them some time some of you thoughts are straight out of the revolutionary literature they provided to new recruits.

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    I have some of their material in a foot locker somewhere. If I can't find it online I'll dig it up. I think I still have a copy of the anarchist cookbook also, along with assorted manifestos. A lot of it is still relevant of course.

  12. #12
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default The threat at home from the extreme right

    An odd report via Twitter, from an untested source that relies on a local Miami paper and it starts with:
    According to the Miami Herald, Brandon Russell, Arthurs’ roommate, was in possession of multiple materials meant to build explosives, including a lethal bomb-making chemical named hexamethane triperoxide diamine. FBI and Tampa Police Department officers found the materials in Russell’s garage.
    While in his bedroom, devices used by police bomb technicians alerted to the presence of radiation sources — thorium and americium.
    Link:http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/fbi-...ive-materials/

    The local paper's report:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...151953257.html

    Leaving aside that Russell was serving in the National Guard; he lived with an extremist who was building IEDs possibly with radioactive components.
    davidbfpo

  13. #13
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    An odd report via Twitter, from an untested source that relies on a local Miami paper and it starts with:Link:http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/fbi-...ive-materials/

    The local paper's report:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...151953257.html

    Leaving aside that Russell was serving in the National Guard; he lived with an extremist who was building IEDs possibly with radioactive components.
    You left out a key piece of the story, Dave. From the Miami Herald link above:

    Officers placed him in handcuffs, and as they walked him to a patrol car, he made several references to “Allah Mohammed,” and said, “I had to do it. This wouldn’t have to happen if your country didn’t bomb my country.”
    Arthurs explained that he shared the same neo-Nazi beliefs as Himmelman and Oneschuk until his recent conversion to Islam. His friends often made disparaging comments about the religion, he said, to which he began to take great offense.
    “Since then, Arthurs states, he has become angered by the world’s anti-Muslim sentiment and had wanted to bring attention to his cause,” according to the arrest report.

    ‘But they aren’t hurt, they’re dead’
    Arthurs told police he killed his two friends — identified by police as Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk — because they disrespected his new-found Muslim faith. Police found the bodies Friday hours after Arthurs barged into a nearby smoke shop and pulled a handgun on an employee and several customers.
    Note that RAW STORY massaged this event to exclude all mention of the "Derka Derka Mohammed Jihad" aspect.

    Now, however will the SPLA classified this? Islamic terrorism or Right-Wing terrorism? Place your bets now, kids.
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  14. #14
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Moderator at work

    I have re-opened this closed thread prompted by the next post. I have copied two posts from the current Terrorism in the USA thread, on the Florida case as they appear relevant.

    There are a small number of closed, historical threads that touch upon this theme; notably this:DHS Report: Rightwing Extremism
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 08-06-2017 at 08:50 PM.
    davidbfpo

  15. #15
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default The Rise of the Violent Left

    An article from 'The Atlantic', the full title and sub-title are: The Rise of the Violent Left; Antifa’s activists say they’re battling burgeoning authoritarianism on the American right. Are they fueling it instead?
    Link:https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-th...heatlantic.com

    I was aware of some the violent incidents @ Portland, Oregon; though without understanding why that city features so much. That Antifa have a strong Anarchist element I had missed - anarchism's roots go back a long way.
    davidbfpo

  16. #16
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Trends in U.S. far-right domestic terror attacks

    An academic study by three US academics, they explain their project inpart in:
    A recent study by criminologists examined the situational risk factors associated with far-right terrorist attack success. Their findings suggest that target vulnerability, lone actors, and unsophisticated weaponry are common correlates of far-right terrorism, information that may aid in the investigation and prevention of future domestic terror attacks.
    Link:http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/201...error-attacks/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 08-14-2017 at 08:27 AM. Reason: 20,970v
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