New West Point Study Highlights Threat Posed by Far Right-Wing Groups in U.S.
A new study from a think tank connected to the West Point Military Academy highlights the threat of violent far-right movements in the United States, leading to the conclusion that, while diverse in in their causes, they are similar in their use of violence to achieve their aims.
West Point’s Combatting Terrorism Center was founded in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and has primarily focused its research on international terrorist threats. Titled ” Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right,” this new report instead looks as the risk that domestic groups pose to the U.S. Breaking down these groups into three categories — the Racist/White Supremacy Movement, the Anti-Federalist Movement, and the Christian Fundamentalist Movement — allows the study to examine the background ideologies and methods of each subset thoroughly, opposed to lumping them all together as most studies have.
Each of the groupings in the study represent competing ideological views, with none of them likely to cooperate in achieving their aims. The chances that each of these groups will use violence also varies. What they share, however, is a use of violence against their chosen targets — be it minority races or abortion clinics — to draw attention to and emphasize their given ideology. After charting out the various instances of violence carried out by each of the categories, the paper offers up several policy recommendations on responding to their actions:
From a theoretical perspective, this constitutes a further indication of the perception among some parts of the academic community that terrorism is an instrument of symbolic discourse which is shared by violent groups and their adversaries. Target selection is thus not based just on operational considerations, but is one component, among others, which allows violent groups to shape their message using violent practices—timing, weapons used and target locations, are only a small measure of the other components which contribute to the shape of the symbolic message conveyed via the attack.
In this context, policy implications are clear. If the numerous far right groups are driven by different ideological sentiments, and are thus also engaged in distinguishing tactics, then the response in terms of counterterrorism policies must be flexible and group/movement oriented.
The study is already coming under attack by Republicans for not properly defining what constitutes a member of the “far right.”
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Linda Thompson, the head of the Unorganized Militia of
the United States details the consequence of this global coup: ;This is the coming of the New World Order. A one-world government, where, in order to put the new
government in place, we must all be disarmed first. To do that, the government is
deliberately creating schisms in our society, funding both the anti-abortion/pro-choice
sides, the antigun/pro-gun issues ;trying to provoke a riot that will allow martial law to be implemented and all weapons seized, while;dissidents; are put safely away ;.
The fear of the materialization of the NWO makes most militias not merely hostile
towards the federal government but also hostile towards international organizations,
whether non-profitable NGOs, international corporations, or political institutions of the
international community, such as the UN.
The militias ; anti-federalist sentiments are also rationalized by their perception of the corrupted and tyrannical nature of the federal government and its apparent tendency to violate individuals; civilian liberties and constitutional rights.
…
The third ideological pillar of the Identity movement is the endorsement of racial
segregation and the notion of the superiority of the Aryan race. The origins of these
perceptions are embedded in the Identity movement’s interpretation of the biblical
story of Genesis. According to this version, Adam was not the first man, but the first
white man. Before him, pre-Adamic people of color were created by God who
possessed lesser spiritual attributes and qualities.
Furthermore, the white people could be divided into two competing “seed-lines”: those who are descendants of Adam and Eve (Aryans), and all others (non-Aryans), who are descendants of Eve and the serpent.Based on this interpretation, the Identity thinkers concluded that race mixing,
as in the case of Eve and the serpent, was the original sin that led to the expulsion of the
white man from the Garden of Eden.The narrative identifies Cain, the first murderer, as the son of Satan and the first Jew.