This week, a training on terrorism given to soldiers at Fort Liberty — known until recently as Fort Bragg — went viral. The fort is not only the largest military installation in the United States but in the world. And since we host that base here in North Carolina, big news there often ripples across the state. In this case, it traveled much further and became a national story, after a slide from the training was leaked.
The slide in question, seen below, has a header that says “TERRORIST GROUPS,” and goes on to list various pro-life groups.
Independent journalist Sam Shoemate, who calls himself a watchdog and an “advocate of service members seeking justice,” shared the image in a post on X.
Shoemate said that in the presentation, “They also falsely attribute the bombing of abortion clinics to National Right to Life.”
He added, “Keep in mind they’re not labeling them as extremist organizations (which would still be crazy), but as terrorist organizations. The military and Dept of Defense are insanely out of control. Service-members are being indoctrinated to view Pro-Life groups as the enemy.”
This slide immediately kicked off vigorous debate, and many prominent conservative voices condemned the presentation and asserted it was part of a pattern of painting conservatives as dangerous extremists.
Some of the commenters were also amused that one of the terrorist categories referenced those “opposed to Row v. Wade,” misspelling the notorious Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.
Of course, Fort Liberty and the Department of Defense did not expect a minor training to go public and backfire to this degree, but they put out a statement saying they did not approve the language and it wouldn’t be used in the future.
Shoemate responded, “There it is. ‘Wasn’t vetted, wasn’t the army, we’ll fix this for the future.’ Except the attacks against the conservative right keep being promulgated within service academies, professional development, and random briefs like this. These aren’t one off, or isolated, events. It’s a concerted effort to promote a progressive, leftist ideology.”
But Shoemate wasn’t the only one dissatisfied. One of North Carolina’s two US senators, Ted Budd, responded to Fort Liberty’s apology by saying he contacted the Army, who has initiated further investigation into the incident.
The statement from National Right to Life might be the most noteworthy, since they were the organization that was slandered as being a terrorist organization, tossed in after a slide on the threat posed by ISIS.
In their first paragraph, National Right to Life make clear that they’ve never advocated for violence. And as far as I’m aware, none of the groups mentioned have advocated for, or are even accused of, any violent acts.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of terrorism is, “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” It’s not a matter of ends, but means. It’s become increasingly obvious, though, that many others are operating from a definition of terrorism that is directly the opposite — all about ends, not means.
In this definition, it’s not about the means used by Antifa or Black Lives Matter or anti-Israel groups or radical environmentalist groups or even pro-abortion groups like Jane’s Revenge — who smashed up abortion clinics and churches across the country. It only matters what the ends are, what they’re fighting for.
And those groups are all fighting for ends that progressives support, so it’s not terrorism when they spraypaint priceless paintings, vandalize Stonehenge, block traffic on a busy road, trap campus administrators in their offices, tear down statutes, smash store windows, assault police officers, or any of the other actions that meet the precise dictionary definition of terrorism.
The ends are what is important in their definition, and pro-life groups simply have the wrong end. It’s why those peacefully praying at abortion clinics are given long prison sentences, while left-wing protesters mostly had their charges for vandalism and assault dropped. Like many terms that have been stretched beyond all utility, a definition of terrorism that is more about ends than means only remains useful as a tool to slander opponents.