methods […] available to them’ and the chief approach employed by this group. 7 The Weathermen, alternatively known as the Weather Underground and the Weather People, and categorized by Martin Schiff as ‘the vanguard of a unique cultural and political rebellion,’ employed guerrilla tactics to further challenge and campaign against U.S. intervention in Vietnam. 8 Rhetoric of key members, such as Bernadine Dohrn reiterated and reified the methods of protest undertaken, affirming that ‘revolutionary violence is the only way.’ 9 This radicalisation dramatically increased the threat posed by the Weather Underground during the 1960s and 1970s, however they were eager to endorse that the protests and violent action they utilised were merely a tool to represent the objective of the cause, and not to bring harm to innocent American civilians. Whilst present on the American political landscape during the 1960s and 1970s the Weather Underground ‘could claim responsibility for some of the most dramatic events of the time.’ 10 Jeffrey Simon identified that over twenty bombings would be claimed by the Weather Underground between 1970 and 1975 alone, ‘including attacks on the U.S. Capitol and State Department.’ 11 The notable Days of Rage, in October 1969, was the Weather 7 Brenda J. Lutz and James M. Lutz, Global Terrorism , 1st edn (London: Taylor & Francis, 2008) p. 157. 8 Martin Schiff, ‘Neo -Transcendentalism in the New Left Counter-Culture: A Vision of the Future Looking Back’, Comparative Studies in Society and History , 15 (1973), p. 57, Brenda J. Lutz and James M. Lutz, Global Terrorism , 1st edn (London: Taylor & Francis, 2008) p. 134. 9 Bernadine Dohrn, ‘A Declaration of the State of War’ (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1970) <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/pacificaviet/scheertranscript.html> [accessed 1 December 2015]. 10 Bell and Gurr, p. 335. 11 Simon, p. 3.
8
Made with FlippingBook HTML5