“Fifth Column” is a term that refers to those individuals and organizations that, though they are nominally American, want the United States to lose the War on Terror – the war that Norman Podhoretz and James Woolsey have called “World War IV.” The term “Fifth Column” was coined by a Spanish Civil War General named Emilio Mola. As four columns of his troops advanced on Madrid, he stated confidently that, within the city, he also had a “fifth column”of supporters – those who were aiding, from the inside, his military campaign against the government. Dictionaries generally define a fifth column as “any group of people who give aid and support to the enemy from within their own country.” The current War on Terror is being waged against radical Islam and the socialist Left, a seemingly unlikely alliance of forces brought together by the common bond they share: their hatred for the United States. In word and deed, both of these allies make it plain that they wish to see American society and its way of life crushed by any means necessary.

The Fifth Column foot soldiers of the socialist Left, as identified in this database, justify their opposition to the United States by charging that all American foreign policy is predicated on aggression, racism, imperialistic ambition, greed, and a lust for oil. Thus deeming the U.S. an evil nation unworthy of preservation, they side with America’s enemies in the War on Terror.

In this section of DiscoverTheNetworks, the category titled Nature, Goals, and Activities features resources that define the worldviews, objectives, and tactics of the Fifth Column in the United States.

The category titled Profiles and Analyses of Fifth Columnists contains profiles of, and articles about, a number of individuals and organizations that can accurately be classified as members of the anti-American "Fifth Column."

The category titled Attacking America and Israel from the Platforms of the Enemy looks at Americans who denounce the United States (and its staunch ally Israel) not from the platforms of U.S. media outlets, but rather through print, Internet, and broadcast media that are controlled by foreign entities whose unambiguous aim is to destroy these two nations.

The category titled Saudi / Wahhabi Influence explores how the extremist Wahhabi strain of Islam (which is practiced in, and exported by, Saudi Arabia) influences the activities of the Fifth Column within the United States.

The category titled Foreign Fifth Columns examines organizations and individuals who are based in nations other than the United States, and who give aid and support to the enemies of their countries.