West Point center cites dangers of “far right” in U.S. By Rowan Scarborough. Washington Times, January 17, 2013.
New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S. By Hayes Brown. Think Progress, January 18, 2013.
West Point Military Study Warns Of “America’s Violent Far-Right.” By Noah Rothman. Mediaite, January 18, 2013.
A New Anti-Terror Front? Yes, theGovernment Thinks It’s “Right-Wing Extremists.” By John Fund. National Review Online, January 18, 2013.
West Point: “Far right” dangerous to U.S. By Michael Carl. WND, January 18, 2013.
Right-wing terrorism is real. By David Sirota. Salon, January 22, 2013.
Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right. By Arie Perliger. The Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, November 2012. Also find it here and here.
Scarborough:
The
West Point center typically focuses reports on al Qaeda and other Islamic
extremists attempting to gain power in Asia, the Middle East and Africa through
violence.
But its
latest study turns inward and paints a broad brush of people it considers “far
right.”
It says
anti-federalists “espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government,
believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude
on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights. Finally, they support civil
activism, individual freedoms, and self government. Extremists in the
anti-federalist movement direct most their violence against the federal
government and its proxies in law enforcement.”
The
report also draws a link between the mainstream conservative movement and the
violent “far right,” and describes liberals as “future oriented” and
conservatives as living in the past.
“While
liberal worldviews are future- or progressive -oriented, conservative
perspectives are more past-oriented, and in general, are interested in
preserving the status quo.” the report says. “The far right represents a more
extreme version of conservatism, as its political vision is usually justified
by the aspiration to restore or preserve values and practices that are part of
the idealized historical heritage of the nation or ethnic community.”
The
report adds: “While far-right groups’ ideology is designed to exclude
minorities and foreigners, the liberal-democratic system is designed to
emphasize civil rights, minority rights and the balance of power.”
