I’m Afraid of Americans: Understanding the New Threat of Domestic Terrorism
Posted by Josh Mull in US Politics, War On Terror
America’s National Security Strategy is changing.
Last week the New York Times published an article detailing the Pentagon’s plan to shift focus away from international terrorism, known under the previous administration as the Global War on Terror, towards larger strategic threats to the United States such as destabilized governments and mass refugee crises provoked by climate change. Most in the defense establishment welcome this shift in strategy, but the threat from terrorism still remains.
This time, however, there is a difference. The terror threat comes largely not from foreign nationals but from Americans.
In 2009 almost 70 Americans, including police officers and medical personnel, have been killed by domestic terror attacks. This is a breathtakingly sharp rise from 2008, when only two people lost their lives, both of whom died at the hands of anti-Liberal terrorist Jim D. Adkisson in Tennessee. The first attack in 2009 was in Samson, Alabama, when Michael McLendon went on a cross-county shooting rampage that killed 11 people including himself. The most recent was on June 10, when James von Brunn opened fire inside the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, killing one guard and wounding several others.
While each of these attacks is unique, they can be roughly broken down into a handful of categories. In this piece, we will explore these terrorist archetypes, the ecosystem that produced them, as well as common tactics, both harmful and helpful, used to counter them. The intention is to provide students, analysts and researchers, with a sound and coherent image of the domestic terror threat facing the United States.
Tags: Abortion, American Indian Movement, Anarchists, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bill O'Reilly, Black Panthers, Bob Morris, conspiracy theory, CSpan, culture wars, Department of Homeland Security, Dr. George Tiller, FBI, Freeman, Glenn Beck, Global War on Terror, Infowars, James von Brunn, Jerry Rubin, jihad, Jim D. Adkisson, Josh Mull, Ku Klux Klan, Leaderless Resistance, Lou Dobbs, Louis Beam, Mario Buda, Michael McLendon, Militias, New York Times, OFAC, Oklahoma City Bombing, Operation Rescue, PATRIOT Act, Pentagon, Polizeros, President Obama, Randall Terry, RICO Act, Scott Roeder, Tea Parties, United Nations, Waco Seige, Washington Post, Weather Underground
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