Libby's neo-Nazis are terrorists, just like Hezbollah

To the Editor:

In 2002, I worked in Beirut, Lebanon on behalf of the US Department of Justice. While there, I had the opportunity to work with and train members of the Internal Security Force from the executive to officer levels. The ISF is Lebanon's national police force and is an arm of the military. The only city in Lebanon with its own law enforcement agency is Beirut.

Within hours of my arrival, violence between Hezbollah supporters and the Israeli Army broke out on the southern border. The Syrian army still occupied Lebanon and had a presence at almost every major intersection. As the Syrian army would stop traffic at roadblocks, Hezbollah members would walk car to car seeking "donations." They were dressed in the distinctive yellow head garb and carried AK-47 assault rifles. Since the Syrians did nothing to deter this fundraising, it was obvious that Hezbollah had the direct approval of the occupying army. I believe the success of their fundraising can be linked directly to the masks they wore and rifles they carried, not to a strong support base in the Lebanese community. There are tens of thousands of Palestinians in Beirut, and Hamas also did similar fundraising with impunity. Fortunately, my driver was intimately familiar with every alley and back street in Beirut and we were able to avoid the roadblocks and the terrorist fundraisers.

During late night discussions with police officials and Lebanese citizens, I learned a true working definition of terrorism. Even though their common theme when speaking of terrorists and terrorist acts dealt with the Israelis as terrorists, they did have a general definition. According to the people who live with terrorists and terrorism every day, a terrorist is anyone who makes you afraid to be in your home or the city where you live and work. An act of terrorism is an act or threatened act of violence designed to make you afraid. They also felt strongly that terrorists gain a foothold when they are not confronted and they gain strength every time one of their acts is not countered. These definitions are not the product of some think tank or academic research but rather the experience of people who have been the victims of terrorism for over 30 years.

By the Lebanese definition of terrorism and terrorists, Libby's neo-Nazis are terrorists. They have succeeded in making at least one family afraid of being at home or in the city. That's one family too many. Our justice system requires that the men who threatened a woman and her children receive due process and they will.

If they are convicted, we as citizens should heed the warning of my Lebanese friends and confront this terrorist hate group and its members. The neo-Nazis need to understand that the family of Libby citizens will not tolerate their conduct. We cannot be silent about this issue and we cannot be vigilantes. We can use every measure of the law to stop them from having a foothold in Libby. As a community, we should make it loud and clear that we will not allow any hate group, terrorist group or gang to make us afraid of being in our own homes, in the city or at work.

Citizens have every right to criticize our government, to complain about our schools, and to be generally unhappy. But, in exercising our rights to free speech, none of us enjoys constitutional protection when our speech and conduct make others afraid to be in their own homes, in the city or at work.

We in Libby have some choices in all of this. We can be silent and by our silence condone hate crimes, terrorist acts against our neighbors, and gang activity. Silence will send a message that we accept and embrace the neo-Nazi, their acts against women and children, and their philosophy of hatred. Or we can be vocal. We can work within the law to report their criminal activities, we can be witnesses in court, and we can stand with the victims. We can voice our non-support for them at every opportunity. (If you are now thinking "I can't do that. They may come after me" then you have just become the latest of their victims.)

Pat Pezzelle