1. Just a little terminology thread on the word "militia" to help journalists and others using the word, or for anybody who might be interested. The word "militia" has many meanings in different contexts (in many Eastern European countries, for example, it may mean "police"). In

2. the U.S., there are basically three main contexts in which the term "militia" is used, but which are sometimes conflated. The first use of the word "militia" is to refer to the statutory/historical militia of the United States, part of America's long tradition of citizen

3. soldiers. In this context, "militia" is a collective term, and its own plural (as in: "the governor mobilized the militia" or "the state raised 3,000 militia for the campaign". The term "militia group" is not appropriate in this context. The militia is governed by federal

4. and state law and is today is divided into two classes: 1) the National Guard and 2) a nominal manpower pool that has never been used because it has been rendered obsolete by selective service laws.

5. The second context in which the term "militia" is used is in the context of the militia movement, a (sometimes) paramilitary-oriented right-wing anti-gov't extremist movement that began in 1993-94. People in the militia movement often claim to be part of the statutory/

6. historical militia but are not. The best way to refer to an organization in this movement is as a "militia group" (that's better than "a militia"). Not all groups in the militia movement are paramilitary in nature (some Three Percenter groups are not, for example).

7. The third way one can use the term "militia" is as a generic reference to any paramilitary group--such as "Shi'ite militias" or "Druze militia," etc. Some people have chosen to use this term to refer to armed left-wing groups in the U.S. as well, but I have noticed that this

8. is often confusing to some readers, who assume that such groups are part of the militia movement or are somehow equivalent to the militia movement. Because of this, it may be better to choose some other term to refer to such groups, esp. if they are armed but not paramilitary.