The Fringe's Death Benefits • 89 leftist terrorists, Arab terrorists, porn terrorists, etc. In truth, according to most intelligent law enforcement professionals, the extremist groups front the Right are almost always better led, equipped, and financed. Many of their disciples have military or police experience. And they almost always outgun today's wobblies of the Left, not to mention law enforcement folks. Sometimes my work jumps off the research page and grabs me by reality. I have seen war, politics, terrorism, more war, crime, and assassination firsthand, on the scene, in and out of the United States. Several years after finishing my book on terrorism, for which 1 had interviewed several terrorists in prison and also some on the run, I got a letter from a "retired terrorist ... an anarchist who's given up." He said two woundings and a stretch of time in prison had convinced him to give up the fight. He wanted to tell me some of his war stories. ; At best I am conservative and cautious about this sort of contact; at worst I am cynical. Yet, the adventurous side of my brain won, and I agreed to meet the man. Our first meeting was an exchange of bona fides and credentials, such as they are in this business. In some respects this reminded me of two dogs sniffing about each other. Our second meeting happened after we were both satisfied with each other's experiences, honesty, and sincerity of purpose. Today, knowing what has happened since that I didn't know then, 1 am certain this man was telling me 100percent truth, which makes what's about to follow all the more frightening. After our two sessions, I never saw him again, and to this day I have no idea where or what he is, or even if he's still alive. What follows are selected versions of our conversations, edited mostly for their relevance to the topic of this book, improvised /modified firearms and their use. 'I became involved in rightist paramilitary activities at an early age [16]. Later, when things looked more serious, I used legitimate and other contacts to acquire whatever we wanted for my group. [i 'It is like a developing band of assassins who have pre