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...Or why does the US have to invade countries looking for terrorists when it should be looking closer to home?
The fortified home siege, another of those curiously American things...
Are these people the US' own brand of settlers?
Besieged tax rebels revive the spectre of Oklahoma bombing
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 21 June 2007
Ed and Elaine Brown, heavily armed tax evaders, are under siege on a hilltop in New Hampshire, threatening to fight to the death if federal agents try to storm their fortified home.
"We either walk out of here free or we die," Ed Brown shouted from an upstairs window. He has been convicted in absentia of evading federal income taxes by hiding $1.9m (£900,000) of income between 1996 and 2003.
He refuses to pay, shouting: "Show us the law and we will pay what you ask - you can't do it."
Elaine Brown added: "If they come in, we're dead. That's it. We will not be arrested. We will not volunteer to go into their prison for a non-crime. We have committed no crime."
Their home near the small town of Plainfield has thick concrete walls and a turret that offers a 360-degree view. The authorities have cut off their power, but their property is self-sufficient, with solar, wind and geothermal energy.
The siege has been continuing for months, but things now seem to be coming to a head. Heavily armed Swat teams have been seen on the farm and neighbours have been evacuated from their homes. A no-fly zone has been declared.
The Browns have widespread support in rural America for their claim that income tax amounts to slavery. They have been given weapons and supplies by supporters from as far away as Texas.
The authorities know that the siege has all the ingredients for an explosion of violence. If they handle it wrongly it could trigger a revival of home-grown terrorism of the sort that brought about the Oklahoma bombing of 1995.
As if to emphasise this point, the Browns were joined on Monday by Randy Weaver, a hero of anti-government circles. It was his defiance of federal authorities that led to the Ruby Ridge shootout in Idaho in 1992. Mr Weaver's wife and son and a deputy US marshal were killed. The botched federal raid gave an enormous boost to the so-called patriot militia movement.
Mr Weaver taunted the authorities from the Browns' porch. "We said, 'This is it, we're not going to take it any more'... This is serious stuff. Bring it on. I ain't afraid of dying no more. I'm curious about the afterlife. And I'm an atheist."
US Marshal Steve Monier seemed to engage in wishful thinking when he told reporters that while the siege could take months, the Browns might consider the prospect of going to jail for two-and-a-half years a better option after a summer without air conditioning and a winter without heating.
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 21 June 2007
Ed and Elaine Brown, heavily armed tax evaders, are under siege on a hilltop in New Hampshire, threatening to fight to the death if federal agents try to storm their fortified home.
"We either walk out of here free or we die," Ed Brown shouted from an upstairs window. He has been convicted in absentia of evading federal income taxes by hiding $1.9m (£900,000) of income between 1996 and 2003.
He refuses to pay, shouting: "Show us the law and we will pay what you ask - you can't do it."
Elaine Brown added: "If they come in, we're dead. That's it. We will not be arrested. We will not volunteer to go into their prison for a non-crime. We have committed no crime."
Their home near the small town of Plainfield has thick concrete walls and a turret that offers a 360-degree view. The authorities have cut off their power, but their property is self-sufficient, with solar, wind and geothermal energy.
The siege has been continuing for months, but things now seem to be coming to a head. Heavily armed Swat teams have been seen on the farm and neighbours have been evacuated from their homes. A no-fly zone has been declared.
The Browns have widespread support in rural America for their claim that income tax amounts to slavery. They have been given weapons and supplies by supporters from as far away as Texas.
The authorities know that the siege has all the ingredients for an explosion of violence. If they handle it wrongly it could trigger a revival of home-grown terrorism of the sort that brought about the Oklahoma bombing of 1995.
As if to emphasise this point, the Browns were joined on Monday by Randy Weaver, a hero of anti-government circles. It was his defiance of federal authorities that led to the Ruby Ridge shootout in Idaho in 1992. Mr Weaver's wife and son and a deputy US marshal were killed. The botched federal raid gave an enormous boost to the so-called patriot militia movement.
Mr Weaver taunted the authorities from the Browns' porch. "We said, 'This is it, we're not going to take it any more'... This is serious stuff. Bring it on. I ain't afraid of dying no more. I'm curious about the afterlife. And I'm an atheist."
US Marshal Steve Monier seemed to engage in wishful thinking when he told reporters that while the siege could take months, the Browns might consider the prospect of going to jail for two-and-a-half years a better option after a summer without air conditioning and a winter without heating.
Are these people the US' own brand of settlers?
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