Terrorism On the Homefront

April 01, 2010  |  Posted by Danielle Belton

They're alleged religious fantatics. They allegedly plotted violent attacks on U.S. government officials. They trained themselves in insurgency tactics used on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they aren't Muslims. They aren't foreigners. They aren't al Qaeda. They're American extremists -- and they're criminals. Not the holy "Christian Warriors" they paint themselves as. The Hutaree militia, recently arrested for plotting attacks against the U.S. government, were stopped and caught by U.S. officials and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is the justice all terrorist suspects deserve, whether they are from here or abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The indictment said Hutaree, a small, armed militia group based in rural southeast Michigan, had practiced attacks and other military maneuvers for more than a year, and had planned to use homemade bombs like those used against U.S. forces by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bombs were the key part of the alleged plot to attack the funeral of a law-enforcement officer, the indictment said.

After that attack, the group planned to retreat to a remote "rally point" from which members would resist an expected response by the government, sparking what Hutaree's alleged leader, David Brian Stone, hoped would be a wider uprising against the government, the indictment said. FBI agent Andrew Arena called Hutaree "an example of radical and extremist fringe groups which can be found throughout our society."

The group, whose name means "Christian Warrior," according to its Web site, didn't respond to emails. The Web site said the group was preparing for "the anti-Christ" and expected to "one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield." The site quotes scripture passages alluding to battle and the sacrifice of lives for a greater cause. The group used tiger-striped camouflage uniforms, the indictment said.

We're spending so much time worrying about al Qaeda we're ignoring the reality of home-grown extremists here in the United States. Ever since President Barack Obama was sworn into office there has been an increase in activity by local extremists, yet right wingers are still focused on the threat from abroad only. The only difference between these domestic terrorists and al Qaeda is country of origin. Why would we doll out one form of justice for local terrorists, but use an inferior, problematic military tribunal system for foreign terrorists? We have a system and it works. It's worked hundreds of times and we have more than 300 domestic and foreign terrorists currently in our prisons. It's a no brainer. We should use what we have, what works. Not a system that is plagued with Constitutional issues. What's good enough for Hutaree is good enough for al Qaeda.

A terrorist is a terrorist

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