Militia

A brief account of an interview where the FBI, finally, differentiates between the various unofficial militias and the various unofficial racist groups. They are not the same thing, although it's tempting for the government and media to lump them together. It's nice to have that acknowledged.

The first couple paragraphs are sniper speculation.

We are at war and every one of us has a responsibility and a right to defend each other and ourselves. This is not hyperbole. It is not fear mongering. It is FACT.

Item #1 in a list of ıRules for a gunfightı is, "Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns."

A former kindergarten teacher who has organized a 600-strong militia in Arizona will station 50 armed militia members on public land this weekend to "protect their country" against an invasion of illegal aliens, warning federal authorities ı including President Bush ı not to interfere.

"I dare the president of the United States to arrest Americans who are protecting their own country," said Chris Simcox, the teacher-turned-newspaper owner who has formed the Tombstone, Ariz., Militia. "We will no longer tolerate the ineptness of the government in dealing with these criminals and drug dealers.

"It is a monumental disgrace that our government is letting the American people down, turning us into the expendable casualties of the war on terrorism," he said.

It is this reporter's opinion that I found it the height of hypocrisy when I read the headline "U.S. Plans to Seal Afghans' Porous Border." The plan is to slow the flow of illegals, illicit drugs, terrorists and contraband into and out of Afghanistan. Contrast this with the fact that our country cannot and will not control the flow of illegal aliens across our own porous borders...

These armed civilian groups along our borders, providing civil homeland defense, are experiencing constant confrontations with illegals. There have been moments that bordered on extreme violence. It's bound to become more dangerous and, as one observer puts it, somebody is going to get killed

The leader of a Tombstone citizens' patrol group faces three misdemeanor charges after he walked armed into Coronado National Memorial near the Arizona-Mexico border Sunday. Chris Simcox was with a companion when they walked onto National Park Service land south of Sierra Vista and were stopped by a ranger. Simcox said the two were simply hiking, but Chief Ran-ger Thane Weigand said it appears that they were conducting a border patrol operation without permission. Since when is "conducting a border control operation without permission" a crime? I don't hear any complaints about this guy arresting people, shooting people (or even shooting AT people), or indeed, any complaints at all.

With our troops in Iraq, this may seem like a poor time to propose abolishing the United States military but I think it is necessary. Please note, I do not for one moment think that we should be doing anything less than giving our full and complete support to our forces, wherever they are and while they are there but do I think that we should withdraw them immediately from foreign shores and abolish our federal forces. And actually, I don't even mean abolishing all of the United States military, just most of it.

Some ten years ago, following the federal attack on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, an interesting trend struck rural America, one that recalled the early days of the American Republic. Faced with a growing sense that the greatest threat to our security was not the private terrorist but the public bureaucrat, local militias began to be formed. They consisted of men, mostly in the working class, gathering and drilling with legally owned weapons, making plans for defending their communities in the event of some sort of government imposition.

If it ever becomes necessary to start shooting tyrants and jack booted thugs in our country I want as many people on my side as possible.  And I want them to have the equipment and the skills to be able to hit head and chest sized objects many hundreds of yards away.

I know the feeling, Joe.  I know the feeling.