Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > Indian Country > Status Update

"The big idea is that citizens armed with individual weapons can provide a powerful opposition to even a conventional military that is in the service of an oppressive government. The Founding Fathers knew exactly what they were doing when they enshrined the Second Amendment within the Bill of Rights. Let's hope we never have to put their wisdom to the test" (434).

"Dale showed him the maps, old AAA paper jobs with yellow Post-Its representing insurgent units & red ones representing People's Republic Army...Several townsfolk were talking into radios & taking notes, then stepping forward to tell Dale's battle captain...the information. Then she would have her ops sergeant, a high school friend of Carl Hyatt's, move the Post-Its. No one touched the maps but the ops sergeant.

"'Tell me the truth. We saw what you people do to civilians.' The PSF officer looked panicked. 'I didn't do any of it. I haven't hurt anyone.' 'So what's your mission?' 'We're supposed to follow the soldiers & deal with terrorists,' the PSF prisoner said, & then realized that perhaps his choice of words was suboptimal. 'With the locals.' 'Deal with?' 'Look, they shot some, but not me!...The PBI guy made us'" (398).

"'They're farmers & racist insurance salespersons!' 'No sir, they're guerrillas fighting on their own ground, to protect their families...Just like the...men who wrote the old Constitution envisioned when they wrote the 2nd Amendment. And we're...in Indian Country only because some woman in the capital told us to...' 'Watch yourself, Col...' 'Loyalty means telling the truth.' 'No...Loyalty means obedience'" (392).

"'So you're just going to sweep in behind us & kill everyone you find?' 'Not everyone. There may be some children who can be reeducated...These people are reactionaries, terrorists. They insist on living on their own terms...like they did under the old government. They voted for Trump in 2016...Their attitudes and foolish religious beliefs were themselves an act of violence to progressive peoples everywhere'" (374).

"At 2345, the truck was replaced by an orange fireball that engulfed the truck, the adjacent section of razor wire fence & the curious sentry. Banks & his troops were far enough away that it took a moment for the sound & blast wave to roar through their position. It was about the loudest thing he had ever heard. When Banks looked back up, the whole other side of the facility was a combination of dust & fire" (361).

"'Do we have enough ammo?' 'Yeah, plenty. These gun nuts laid in enough for World War III and IV, and they've dug it all up. Everyone who wants a gun has one, and usually two.' 'We need to make sure they understand how this is going to work,' Turnbull said. 'They're going to want to fight the first enemy they see, and that's going to get them killed. They have to be smart.' 'They'll listen to you, Kelly'" (338).

"The force moved out in individual vehicles with four guerrillas each and a map. Each took a different route north, all heading to converge at the rally point near a small hamlet named Hendriksville a few miles west of Bloomington. The rendezvous time was 2000 hours, with the sun falling in the sky" (326).

"The sun was down, and Ted Cannon was on top of the water tower north of town with a pair of binoculars. He had a map and a red light - for light discipline. And he had the best view in the area. His teams were out there to the north. He had already divided the map up into grids and assigned teams to defend each one. There would not be a lot of coordination, but then communications were always iffy" (310).

"'That's nine different overturned trucks blocking the freeways...We're not using those freeways.' 'You can bet every one of them is under direct observation & fire'...That was basic Combat Engineer 101. An obstacle that you don't cover is no obstacle at all...He remembered...what Admiral Yamamoto had said: 'You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass'" (306).