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vspace="0" border=0 width="315" height="180" src="/olmedia/1325000/images/_1325330_soldier300.jpg"><BR CLEAR="all"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>McVeigh: "A soldier's soldier"</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="bodytext"><B>By BBC News Online's Kathryn Westcott</B> <P> Six years after the Oklahoma City bombing, the US anti-government movement that spawned such a deadly attack, has been reduced to "a shadow of its former self," a new report says. <P> The militia - or so-called patriot - movement had by last year steadily declined from a peak of 858 groups in 1996 to 194 identifiable groups, the Southern Poverty Law Centre - which monitors extremist groups - found. <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="2" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="220" src="/olmedia/1325000/images/_1325330_militia_groups_2_150.gif"><BR CLEAR="all"> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> "It's a symbolic moment," Mark Potok, editor of the organisation's intelligence project, which published the report, told BBC News Online. <P> Speaking as McVeigh awaited execution he added: "McVeigh is on his death bed as the patriot movement is taking its dying gasps," he said. <P> <B>'Disillusioned'</B> <P> The report defines the patriot movement as being characterised by gun-toting militiamen angry at the federal government. <P> The law centre, based in Montgomery, Alabama, says the conservative militia movement, which began developing in the early 1990s, reached a peak of 858 groups in 1996. <P> </FONT><TABLE BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" HSPACE="2" VSPACE="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="150" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" ALIGN="RIGHT"> <TR><TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/startquote.gif" WIDTH=23 HEIGHT=18 BORDER=0 VALIGN="TOP" ALT=""><BR><DIV CLASS="boxbody"> Among other things, McVeigh's act was intended to ignite the spark of a revolution, but nothing has materialised</DIV><IMG ALIGN="RIGHT" SRC="/furniture/endquote.gif" WIDTH=23 HEIGHT=18 BORDER=0 VALIGN="ABSBOTTOM" ALT=""><BR CLEAR=ALL></TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="CCCC99"><DIV CLASS="boxhead"> Terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman </DIV></TD></TR></TABLE><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <P> "People have left the militia movement for a variety of reasons," Mr Potok said. <P> "They have gone home, disillusioned and tired of waiting for the revolution that never seems to come." <P> <B>Revenge</B> <P> In the past, the militiamen had been written off as obscure extremists but the menace was brought home with McVeigh's fatal blow of the citizens of Oklahoma City. <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="2" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="McVeigh" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="180" src="/olmedia/1325000/images/_1325330_guilty.jpg"><BR CLEAR="all"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>McVeigh grew up as a working-class boy</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> The former army veteran maintains he was driven to blow up the Federal Building with a loss of 168 lives because of an FBI assault on a cult compound in Waco Texas. <P> In the course of the siege dozens of people, including 21 children, were killed. <P> McVeigh was apparently obsessed by the idea that the assault and a similar FBI siege of an alleged white supremacists rural cabin at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, represented the opening salvo in government plans to outlaw and seize all privately owned firearms. <P> Mr Potok says before the bombing, McVeigh had placed himself squarely in the militia world, attending some 80 gun shows in his first year since being discharged from the army after the Gulf War. <P> <B>Folk hero</B> <P> Randy Weaver, a former survivalist who wanted to separate from what he saw as a race-mixing nation and its predatory government, lost his wife and son at Ruby Ridge. <P> Asked about McVeigh's impending execution he was quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "There should be a bunch of federal agents lying right beside him on the gurney." <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="2" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="Randy Weaver" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="190" src="/olmedia/1325000/images/_1325330_weaver.jpg"><BR CLEAR="all"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>Randy Weaver: A folk hero to right-wing extremists</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> "He was a soldier's soldier," he says of McVeigh. He just switched sides. Tim McVeigh was trying to make a point. He was what you call pro bono. He was going to be judge, jury and executioner. No different from the federal government. One has a badge and one don't." <P> To the right-wing movement, Mr Weaver continues to be a folk hero, but to organisations that monitor militia groups, he is a fading figure in a waning movement. <P> To some, McVeigh will similarly appear as a martyr to his beliefs, orchestrating his own execution in an attempt to make it "his greatest moment" and embracing it as a "state-assisted suicide". <P> <B>Revolution</B> <P> "He is acting the part well," says Mr Potok. "From the point of the extreme right, he is playing the soldier par excellence." <P> Despite this, he says there is no evidence that any of his supporters are planning to avenge his death. <P> "He will certainly be included in the pantheon of fallen Aryan heroes, but there is not a big hue and cry within the right-wing movements over his impending death," he says. <P> </FONT><TABLE BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" HSPACE="2" VSPACE="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="150" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" ALIGN="RIGHT"> <TR><TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/startquote.gif" WIDTH=23 HEIGHT=18 BORDER=0 VALIGN="TOP" ALT=""><BR><DIV CLASS="boxbody"> Oklahoma just proved the potentially devastating power of a single individual</DIV><IMG ALIGN="RIGHT" SRC="/furniture/endquote.gif" WIDTH=23 HEIGHT=18 BORDER=0 VALIGN="ABSBOTTOM" ALT=""><BR CLEAR=ALL></TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="CCCC99"><DIV CLASS="boxhead"> Bruce Hoffman </DIV></TD></TR></TABLE><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation in Washington, a private non-profit-making institution that helps improve policy and decision making, says McVeigh's planned execution may give the right-wing movement more ammunition. <P> But he dismisses the threat of the militia groups as "inconsequential". <P> "Post Oklahoma, the media tended to inflate their power. It gave them the cachet they had never had before," he told BBC News Online. <P> <B>Frightened off</B> <P> "Among other things, McVeigh's act was intended to ignite the spark of a revolution, but nothing has materialised. <P> Analysts agree Oklahoma fanned a fear that militias might go rampaging across the US to exact revenge against what they saw as an overly powerful government. <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="2" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="Timothy McVeigh" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="190" src="/olmedia/1325000/images/_1325330_building150.jpg"><BR CLEAR="all"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>Many right-wing groups condemned the bombing</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> But today, many are happy to express their disrespect for bureaucracy and authority by refusing to pay their taxes or register motor vehicles. <P> This is partly due to a crackdown by local government. <P> "They have been frightened off by the arrests of thousands of comrades for engaging in illegal "common-law" court tactics, weapons violations and terrorist plots," Mr Potok said. <P> McVeigh's act in some cases has killed support for militias. <P> Some, such as the Michigan Militia, which McVeigh's accomplice Terry Nichols had contact with, have repackaged their image to appear less harmful. <P> A month after the bombing, it kicked out the more extreme faction who were making noises about going to war with the government - and condemned the bombing. <P> Some former members regrouped under hard-liner Norman Olson, the Michigan Militia's co-founder and commander, who once boasted that his goal was not to plan a revolution, "for the revolution will come". <P> But last month, the paramilitary group based in northern Michigan said it was disbanding because membership had plummeted. <P> Patriot groups may be in retreat, but Mr Hoffman cautions about being too complacent. <P> "After all," he says. "Oklahoma just proved the potentially devastating power of a single individual." <P> </DIV> </FONT> </TD> <TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=10 HEIGHT=1 ALT=""></TD> <TD VALIGN=TOP> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">  </SCRIPT> <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 WIDTH=170 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <TR> <TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=2 HEIGHT=1></TD> <TD COLSPAN=2><FONT SIZE="1"><B CLASS="search">Search BBC News Online</B></FONT><BR CLEAR=ALL><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=3></TD> </TR> <TR><form action="http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl"> <input type="hidden" name="scope" value="newsukfs" /> <input type="hidden" name="tab" value="news" /> <TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=2 HEIGHT=1></TD> <TD><INPUT STYLE="width:120px;" SIZE="9" NAME="q" TYPE="TEXT"></TD> <TD><INPUT STYLE="background-color : #990000; border-color : #990000; font-family : Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size : 11px; font-weight : 800; color 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CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" WIDTH="170"> <TR><TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="1" BORDER="0" ALT="" VSPACE="8"></TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG hspace=0 alt="" width=170 height="47" border=0 src="/olmedia/1320000/images/_1321058_mcveigh_megapuf.gif"> <FONT SIZE="2"><DIV CLASS="meganolink"><B> </B></DIV></FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/greylight_pixel.gif" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="1" BORDER="0" ALT="" VSPACE="4"><BR> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#990000"><DIV CLASS="megaheader"><B>Key stories</B></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383171.stm">Victims' pain</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383031.stm">Eyewitness accounts</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1382000/1382893.stm">Execution countdown</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383206.stm">McVeigh's last words</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383285.stm">Death vigils</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383810.stm">Media focus on victims</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1384000/1384404.stm">Gobal response</a></DIV></FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/greylight_pixel.gif" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="1" BORDER="0" ALT="" VSPACE="4"><BR> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#990000"><DIV CLASS="megaheader"><B>Explaining McVeigh</B></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1321000/1321244.stm">McVeigh profile</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1382000/1382540.stm">His psychiatrist's view</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1319000/1319772.stm">McVeigh timeline</a></DIV></FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/greylight_pixel.gif" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="1" BORDER="0" ALT="" VSPACE="4"><BR> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#990000"><DIV CLASS="megaheader"><B>Background</B></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383193.stm">Nation's revenge?</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1305000/1305342.stm">Oklahoma bombing</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1312000/1312786.stm">Focus on death penalty</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1325000/1325330.stm">Militias 'in retreat'</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1374000/1374356.stm">America's enemy within</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1382000/1382017.stm">Death row landmarks</a></DIV><DIV CLASS="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1383000/1383018.stm">Execution worldwide</a></DIV></FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="4" BORDER="0" ALT=""><BR CLEAR="ALL"> <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" WIDTH="170"> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="20"><IMG src="/furniture/in_depth/mega_video.gif"></TD><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="150"><FONT SIZE="1" COL0R="#ffffff"><SPAN CLASS="megawhite"><B>AUDIO VIDEO</B></SPAN></FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE></TR></TD> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <FONT SIZE="2"> <DIV class="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1298000/1298798.stm" escapeHTML="">The McVeigh story</a></DIV> </FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="4" BORDER="0" ALT=""><BR CLEAR="ALL"> <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" WIDTH="170"> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="20"><IMG src="/furniture/in_depth/mega_talkingpoint.gif"></TD><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="150"><FONT SIZE="1" COL0R="#ffffff"><SPAN CLASS="megawhite"><B>TALKING POINT</B></SPAN></FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE></TR></TD> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <FONT SIZE="2"> <DIV class="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/talking_point/newsid_1373000/1373722.stm" escapeHTML="">Should the execution have gone ahead?</a></DIV> </FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="4" BORDER="0" ALT=""><BR CLEAR="ALL"> <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0" WIDTH="170"> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="20"><IMG src="/furniture/in_depth/mega_talkingpoint.gif"></TD><TD BGCOLOR="#990000" WIDTH="150"><FONT SIZE="1" COL0R="#ffffff"><SPAN CLASS="megawhite"><B>FORUM</B></SPAN></FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE></TR></TD> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> <FONT SIZE="2"> <DIV class="megaitem"><A href="/hi/english/talking_point/forum/newsid_1378000/1378651.stm" escapeHTML="">McVeigh author Dan Herbeck quizzed</a></DIV> </FONT> </TD></TR> <TR><TD BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="4" BORDER="0" ALT=""></TD></TR></TABLE>    </DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"><DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>See also:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">19 Apr 01 | Americas</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1285000/1285981.stm" CLASS="heavy">McVeigh death banned from web</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">19 Apr 01 | Americas</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1285000/1285884.stm" CLASS="heavy">Oklahoma marks bomb anniversary</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">11 Feb 01 | Americas</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1164000/1164606.stm" CLASS="heavy">Bomber wants public execution</A> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"> <DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>Internet links:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http:// http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/" CLASS="heavy">Pro-Death Penalty</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.fbi.gov/" CLASS="heavy">FBI</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.ncadp.org/" CLASS="heavy">National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/" CLASS="heavy">Oklahoma City Memorial</A></DIV> <SPAN CLASS="disclaimer"><BR>The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites</SPAN><BR> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"> <DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>Top Americas stories now:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/sport/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2117000/2117016.stm" CLASS="heavy">Bush vows action after scandals</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2116000/2116623.stm" CLASS="heavy">'White 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more Americas stories are at the foot of the page. <BR><IMG SRC="/sport/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 VSPACE=4 ALT=""><BR> </DIV> </FONT></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD WIDTH=105><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=105 HEIGHT=1 ALT=""></TD> <TD ALIGN=LEFT><BR CLEAR="ALL"> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR><TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=315 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 VSPACE=3 ALT=""></TD></TR> <TR><TD><A onClick="window.open('http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/emailthisstory/emailthisstory.pl','Mailer','status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=370,height=445');" href="http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/emailthisstory/emailthisstory.pl" class="index" target="Mailer"><B><IMG SRC="/furniture/mail_icon.gif" WIDTH=13 HEIGHT=9 BORDER=0 ALT=""> E-mail this story to a friend</B></A></TD></TR> <TR><TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=315 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0 VSPACE=3 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