Bill Ayers, the first family’s terrorist friend, is trying to whitewash his past, attempting to dumb down the definition of terrorism to the point of making it meaningless, and denying his involvement in the Weather Underground’s failed attempts at mass murder. In an interview with the Detroit Free Press that can only be described as delusional, Ayers refused to admit the terrorist acts of the Weather Underground were wrong, and then attempted to claim that veterans and politicians were more guilty of terrorism than himself:
Ayers: No, I don’t think we were wrong. But there could be some situations in which you could kind of map this out and think about the rightness and wrongness of it. For example, if you had the opportunity to interview John McCain, would this be at the front of the interview?
Freep.com: Would what be?
Ayers: The question of terrorism and the question of right and wrong. After all, he killed people actually from the air, innocent people. So would you be challenging him on that? Or is the fact that he did it under the rubric of legality, does that make it OK?
Freep.com: Is there no distinction in your mind between an act of war against a declared enemy and an act of terrorism?
Ayers: You have to start with a definition of terrorism. Let’s go back in American history. So take the question of slavery. Is it legitimate for people to free the slaves? It was illegal. It was destruction of property. Was it OK? By today’s standards, of course it was OK. But had you thought it was OK in 1840 you would have been against the law, against your church, against your Bible, against your parents, against your friends. So think this through a little bit.
Freep.com: You don’t think there is a distinction between domestic bombings … that hurt real people, and John McCain executing a mission over North Vietnam? Is there any difference in kind between those two acts?
Ayers: There is no difference in kind between killing of any human being. Any killing of any human being is a universe lost. Let’s be clear. If we sat on a stage with Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara, John McCain, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey, me and whoever else you want to put up there … George Bush. And then you could measure responsibility. And I’d be happy in that context and that company.
Freep.com: They are more guilty than you are?
Ayers: You think so? That’s what I’d love to see. Henry Kissinger is responsible for the death of millions. I’m responsible for the death of no one. Does that distinction not seem to matter? In other words, why am I held up as an example of something beyond the pale. Whereas Kissinger, hey it was normal. He was the secretary of state. … Yeah, he was the secretary of state overseeing an illegal, immoral, genocidal attack on civilians. That is terrorism, pure and simple.
So according to Ayers’ twisted logic, every military veteran that fired a bullet at an enemy soldier or dropped a bomb on an enemy position is as much a terrorist as was his group, which attempted three separate mass murders. (Two of their attempts ended in failed bombings in Detroit, where devices that failed to explode were recovered after an FBI informant within the group tipped police. The remaining botched attempt a month later resulted in the death of Ayers’ girlfriend and two other Weather Underground terrorists in a Greenwich Village townhouse, when the bombs they were manufacturing to commit murder at a soldiers’ dance at Fort Dix, NJ, went off prematurely.)
Ayers’ attempt to absolve himself is obvious: if everyone is a terrorist, then none of us is a terrorist, most especially him. Unfortunately for Ayers, he doesn’t get to redefine terrorism to suit his personal desires. Nor does he get to claim that he was not responsible for the attacks he ordered without being challenged … though it doesn’t keep him from trying.
Enter former FBI informant Larry Grathwohl, who is still trying to hold Ayers responsible for his terrorist acts 38 years later.
Freep.com: I have to ask you about the specific allegation from, (Larry) Grathwol, the FBI informant, that there was a specific plot to blow up the Detroit Police HQ.
Ayers: None that I know. Then, I don’t know everything.
Freep.com: You’re familiar with his allegations?
Ayers: No. You’re telling me this.
Freep.com: You’ve never heard of this guy?
Ayers: I’ve heard of Grathwol[sic]. I remember him. But no, I’ve never read his book. I don’t know what he said. You’re the first person telling me.
Freep.com: He said that in February 1970 the Weatherman built two bombs targeting the Detroit Police Officers Association building and the 13th precinct.
Ayers: Not true.
Freep.com: (Reading from Grathwol) “The instructions I received from Billy Ayers was that the bombs to be used in Detroit must have shrapnel and fire potential.”
Ayers: Not true. Not true.
Freep.com: And you’ve never heard those allegations before?
Ayers: No. Not those. I’ve heard a lot. But I try not to watch Fox News too much because I think it’s poisonous.
Of course, Larry Grathwohl did not make these comments to Fox News. Cable news of any kind was nothing but a dream when Grathwohl testified in detail to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1974 regarding his time in the Weather Underground as an FBI informant. The same was the case when his book Bringing Down America: An FBI Informer with the Weathermen was published in 1976.
Pajamas Media was able to contact Larry Grathwohl regarding Ayers’ evasive answer, and Grathwohl was far from surprised that the aging terrorist refused to take responsibility for the attacks he ordered.
Regarding Bill’s comments, I would be amazed at any remarks legitimatizing my accusations about Bill & Bernardine [Dohrn, a fellow WU leader and Ayers’ wife] and their connection in the leadership of the WU. I take note of the fact that Bill responded with only a NO in regards to the bombings in Detroit. I also note Bills claim that he had never read my book even though he was not asked that question. Reports I submitted to the FBI during the time that I was with the WU document Bill’s & Bernardine’s activities. Further information regarding their locations are accessible under the Freedom Of Information Act indicating the accuracy of the information I provided to the FBI.
Consider the consequences if Bill acknowledges the correctness of anything I may have said, or say, about him & Bernardine, he faces the possibility of creating contradictions that could result in prosecution of both himself and his wife Bernardine.
Ayers and Grathwohl have not crossed paths in almost 40 years, but that may change tonight if Ayers carries through with his plans to speak at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Move America Forward, a conservative activist group, is protesting Ayers’ speech on “social justice” at the college, and Grathwohl has accepted the role of featured speaker at the protest. It should be quite a reunion.
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