Terrorists Among Us - A Book Review

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In My Opinion by Trevor Bothwell

In this post-September 11 world, the threat and reality of domestic terrorism are all too well known. Americans have finally begun to take seriously the risks we face from international menaces like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

But do threats to our sovereignty always originate outside our borders? In his book, Terrorists Among Us, Captain Robert L. Snow outlines the potential dangers we face from the modern militia movement right here in the United States.

So who belongs to militias? Capt. Snow explains that militias are usually comprised of people who are not adjusting well to modern society, to the changing roles of women, or to the racial balancing finally taking place. The most radical fringe of the militia movement often sympathizes with racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, or any general anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi organization like the National Alliance.

However, the author cautions that “it is a mistake to believe that the civilian militias in our country consist only of angry, unemployed, young, white males,” explaining that the movement often attracts older people who may have been downsized out of jobs, or who may have seen careers disappear to foreign outsourcing. Militia members are generally confused, angry and frightened, and militias give them someone to blame.

One of the most widely held beliefs of militia members is that the federal government is a co-conspirator with the United Nations, where the ultimate plan is to usurp sovereignty from Americans and thus effect international takeover of the country. Hence, militia members are almost always strict adherents to the Constitution, and oppose just about any government restriction that threatens individual rights. And nothing is more important to the militia movement than the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms.

Weapons and ammunition are the top priority for militias. “They come before eating out at restaurants,” says Snow. “They come before buying camping equipment or taking vacations. They come before making any purchases other than the bare necessities.” After all, one needs to be prepared when the takeover begins.

The notion of conspiracies dominates the psyches of militia members. Capt. Snow writes that one of the prevalent beliefs of militias was that the year 2000 would be the year of the New World Order, the organization secretly controlling the United Nations, which plans total world domination.

Will the fact that three years have passed since this (ostensibly) faulty prediction assuage the concerns of militias? Not necessarily, says Snow. He states: “[P]roving the evidence of the conspiracies held by militia members was actually just mistakes, misjudgments, or coincidence can also be near impossible, because for those in the militia movement who believe in these various conspiracies, mistakes, misjudgments, and coincidences simply do not occur.” In other words, to militia members, the more unlikely a conspiracy seems to others merely proves just how effective the conspirators are in covering up their true intentions.

The interesting aspect about this book is that it was written in 1999 (indeed, the author writes in what is to him the present and future, as the reader retains the benefit of hindsight to judge his accuracy). Its place on our reading list is obviously appropriate today, as our awareness of terrorism is heightened. Still, the reader gets an eerie feeling as the author describes the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh as the most devastating attack on American soil. But understanding now that we could face threats simultaneously, from terrorist groups both abroad and domestic, should be enough to strike fear and caution into the hearts of all decent Americans.

Terrorists Among Us it not pleasure reading. The information at times becomes redundant, as when the author points out several times over the influence that conspiracy theories retain over militia members. But while not exactly a page-turner, this book clearly boasts pertinent information about domestic terrorism that the general reader is not likely to acquire unless he seeks it out.

While Capt. Snow is careful to admit that not all militia members prescribe to some of the more desperate and radical views that lead to tragic events like Columbine, Waco or Oklahoma City, he indirectly makes the case for profiling as a means of law enforcement. Most militia members are law-abiding citizens; many are people who believe the federal government exercises too much authority over us, but they have no ambition to wreak havoc over the lives of others.

However, recent events have shown that while the majority of any group is usually harmless, the radical fringe can often prove very dangerous, even deadly. Neglecting to identify the rotten apples in an otherwise acceptable bunch is a recipe for disaster only a terrorist could love.

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Trevor Bothwell is editor of The Right Report and author of the cookbook, 50 Ways to Impress Your Girlfriend’s Parents. He is a former elementary school teacher and college instructor.