I wasn’t aware that someone’s designation as a terrorist relied on whether or not anyone acted subsequently in support of their position.
Very well then, client states rather than colonies.
And where’s Leo Burt?
There’s also John Walker (white, American Taliban), Jose Padilla (Hispanic) and that black guy who tried to light his shoes on fire. These are the guys who are going to walk onto planes unmolested while security is harassing some Syrian lounge singer.
Is my monitor set to stupid today? Jeesy Chreesy, what a dumb, sad statement.
Or a US Senator.
OUUUU. the kernals of truth dripping from this post has just astounded me. Talk to me kid when you’ve got something substantial to respond with.
What? What’s the problem? I read the thread. I was more interested in the debates elsewhere–because I’m tired of this whole issue–but wanted to second what the OP stated. Did you get another impression?
You want substance in response to that idiotic assertion? The reason you’re not getting a substantive response to it is because it’s pathetically stupid on the face of it.
Look: A “terrorist” is “a person who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.” That’s all. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist. Not a wanna-be terrorist.
He was loosely affiliated with groups that foster terrorism in precisely the same way that darker-hued terrorists are loosely affiliated with groups that foster terrorism. He was an effective terrorist in the same way that Muhammad Atta was an effective terrorist. He did the job that he set out to do. He was ineffective in the same way that Muhammad Atta was ineffective – his destructive act did not achieve the political end that he desired.
Nobody follows Timothy McVeigh, and nobody follows Muhammad Atta – but there are people who follow their respective ideologies, and it’s a safe bet that there are more Aryan Nations and Christian Identity types with terrorist leanings active within U.S. borders. Simple demographics.
How you can possibly dismiss McVeigh as a terrorist is incomprehensible. He was, by terrorist standards, spectacularly successful. And yes, there are plenty of misguided fools who view him as a martyr for the glorious cause, and don’t mind saying so.
I have a couple of disconnected points to make, some of them in response to various posts scattered throughout this thread.
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If you don’t like McVeigh being brought up, you probably really won’t like it when I remind everyone that America used weapons of mass destruction against a huge civilian population way back in 1945.
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Talking about young, white, American male terrorists, let’s not forget the Smiley Face bomber, who planted bombs in mailboxes across America, sending several people to the hospital.
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Anne Applebaum has written a great column in the Washington Post about how for decades Americans gave financial support to terrorists in Ireland, and how accepted it was here at home. Terrorists who killed people. Yet somehow their names don’t get put on Do Not Fly lists.
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The American soldiers in Iraq aren’t wrong, our elected officials are wrong. Can we please put the blame where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of our politicians and the people who elected them? Soldiers join up for a myriad of reasons; most of them did not join in order to go wage this current war. And they’re not allowed to quit. And they can’t just break their contract, the way pro athletes constantly do.
and 5) Does anybody else think, “Mmm…yellow cake” when reading about yellowcake uranium?
Loosely? What the hell does that mean? Cite me one group that he was associated with that has successfully fostered reported terrorist acts, and bank robbery doesn’t count.
Well you’re right about McVeigh, its been ten years and nothing reported on non-Islamist terrorist acts against the US federal government since, but are you serious that you didn’t know that Atta was a member of al Qaida? Or that there are documented terrorist acts subsequently attributed to al Qaida?
I don’t know why some dopers feel the need to hype up the threat of non-Islamist terrorism in America, but for most of us it just doesn’t exist as a constant threat.
Christian Identity. By “loosely” I mean just that. It’s not neat and tight, any more that Osama can be said to be directly responsible for 9/11. Cellular organization. Loose association. But here’s what we know: Christian Identity militantly holds the IRS and Federal government as satanic enemies, and trains its adherants in weapons use at survivoralist camps. McVeigh was in close contact with them, especially in the few days before the bombings, when he called the Elohim City community several times.
After the bombing, a CI leader at a rally enthusiastically advised “Go look in the Old Testament, God talks about slaughter – don’t leave one suckling! Don’t leave no babies! Don’t leave nothing! Kill them!”
Except the anthrax mailings, which, although unsolved, are acknowledged at least to be almost certainly a domestic act.
Or the plot uncovered in Texas a couple of years ago, where a wackjob was found with hundreds of bombs, including a cyanide bomb, detailed correspondence outlining a plan and several contingencies against an unnamed target, and connections to Christian Identity.
Or Eric Rudolph. He didn’t attack the feds, just the cops, civilians at the Olympics, health clinics, and a gay bar. And, of course, he’s a member of Christian Identity.
Or… aww, fuck it.
Allow me to roll my eyes.
Except, you know, the ones who are paying attention. Would you like to tally up the number of attacks in America carried off by al Qaeda, and compare them with those tied to, oh, I don’t know, let’s say, domestic terrorists?
Don’t get me wrong, of course there’s a continuing threat from al Qaeda. Just don’t take your eye of the continuing threat from home-grown terrorists. This isn’t “hype,” it’s common sense. While I’m sure (unhappily) there will be another al Qaeda attack on U.S. soil, I’ll bet hard currency that there’s be another significant attack from home-grown right-wing “christian” zealots, first. There’s more of them within the borders, and it’s much easier for them, logistically, to stage an attack.
Millar and Larry Mudd, I concede.
But didn’t anyone tell you, Larry? Generalization applies, in cases of terrorism, only to Muslims.
This is a dumb statement since Eric Rudolph was sentenced to jail only a month ago, and still has sentencing left ahead of him.
And when a white guy commits an AQ-related attack in this country, you’re going to say… ___________? (Fill in the blank)
Eh, I disagree with your feelings, but I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat like that. My bad. It seemed like you just read the OP without reading the counter-agruements, but I’ll take your word for it.
Understood. No problem, Thanks for the response.
Does Squeaky Fromme count?
Fair enough. Sorry for calling you stupid.