Open Now
Open Now
Watch now

Against all adversaries, both foreign and domestic

The creation of a new Department of Justice domestic terror squad to combat 'freedom fighters' has sown American discord.

For a year, Americans heard the word "insurrectionists" used to individuals who took part in the Jan. 6, 2020, U.S. Capitol breach — even though no one has been charged with "insurrection" out of the more than 700 people detained.

Apart from those participating in the Capitol disturbance, the Biden administration made it clear this week that it believes there are millions more "insurrectionists" armed from sea to shining sea over the fruited plains.

The government is carefully advertising that it is targeting its law enforcement and military personnel to target potential internal adversaries rather than international foes after one year in office following a highly contentious election.

The Justice Department is forming a new prosecuting unit focused on "domestic terrorism" just weeks after Attorney General Merrick Garland's Oct. 4 letter caused countrywide concern over the prosecution of parents opposing school boards.

The unit faces logistical challenges because there is no true "domestic terrorism" legislation or legal description in the United States Code. Apart from the administration's continual employment of fictitious phrases and crimes, there's another issue: the optics of an ostensibly "republican" government that is more distrustful of its own citizens than of foreign foes.

Asst. Attorney General Matthew Olsen told federal lawmakers about the new unit just days after the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Capitol breach, asserting that since the spring of 2020, the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic extremists has more than doubled. 

Mr. Olsen made it clear the targeted “domestic terrorists” fall on the right side of the political spectrum, testifying that, “We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies.”

This, like the FBI, declined to say if plain-clothed police were on the Capitol grounds the day of the breach and engaged in the disturbance in sworn evidence on Tuesday. The New York Times reported in September that an FBI agent was among those who marched into the Capitol on Jan. 6.

A similar conspiracy to abduct Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was thwarted months before Jan. 6 in Michigan, when alleged right-wing organizations sought to kidnap her. As the case progresses, it has become clear that at least 12 of the 26 defendants were working with the FBI and were heavily involved in the plot's conception.

All of this begs the question: Is the FBI creating the very unrest it seeks to eliminate?

Last year, Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin launched the Pentagon's Countering Extremist Activity Working Group, ordering all U.S. armed troops throughout the world to "stand down" as the military leadership flooded soldiers with a day-long lecture on the risks of right-wing extremism. Mr. Austin told viewers in a deep, menacing tone during a filmed introductory statement that "this terrible philosophy" was seeping across the military, infecting its ranks and sites around the world.

While the Justice Department seeks to increase prosecutions of "domestic terrorism" and the military's command attempts to screen out "extremism" inside its ranks, the Pentagon is organizing nationwide training exercises to educate soldiers how to engage in military action against "freedom fighters."

The US Army released a press statement this week informing residents of two dozen North Carolina counties of a "unconventional warfare exercise" being undertaken by the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center from January 22 to February 4.

Candidates for the program will be pitted against veteran troops from Fort Bragg units, as well as trained civilians who will "act as genuine opposing forces and guerrilla freedom fighters," according to the center.

"Leaders who fuel fear are generally also ones who disregard truth," said former President Barack Obama in 2019.

Mr. Obama has our support.

The Biden administration continues to see half of its country through a gloomy, paranoid lens, mislabeling them as insurgents and terrorists, wasting time and resources on domestic concerns rather than international threats.

Not the streets of Anytown, USA, but the corridors of Moscow and Beijing pose the greatest threat to democracy. The "Democratic" Party may learn the hard way this November that suggesting differently is alienating, disrespectful, and scary to Americans.

Follow us on Google News