from today's NYT:
QuoteHate Groups Are Infiltrating the Military, Group Asserts
By JOHN KIFNER
A decade after the Pentagon declared a zero-tolerance policy for racist hate groups, recruiting shortfalls caused by the war in Iraq have allowed "large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists" to infiltrate the military, according to a watchdog organization.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks racist and right-wing militia groups, estimated that the numbers could run into the thousands, citing interviews with Defense Department investigators and reports and postings on racist Web sites and magazines.
"We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad," the group quoted a Defense Department investigator as saying in a report to be posted today on its Web site, www.splcenter.org. "That's a problem."
A Defense Department spokeswoman said officials there could not comment on the report because they had not yet seen it.
The center called on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to appoint a task force to study the problem, declare a new zero tolerance policy and strictly enforce it.
The report said that neo-Nazi groups like the National Alliance, whose founder, William Pierce, wrote "The Turner Diaries," the novel that was the inspiration and blueprint for Timothy J. McVeigh's bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, sought to enroll followers in the Army to get training for a race war.
The groups are being abetted, the report said, by pressure on recruiters, particularly for the Army, to meet quotas that are more difficult to reach because of the growing unpopularity of the war in Iraq.
The report quotes Scott Barfield, a Defense Department investigator, saying, "Recruiters are knowingly allowing neo-Nazis and white supremacists to join the armed forces, and commanders don't remove them from the military even after we positively identify them as extremists or gang members."
Mr. Barfield said Army recruiters struggled last year to meet goals. "They don't want to make a big deal again about neo-Nazis in the military," he said, "because then parents who are already worried about their kids signing up and dying in Iraq are going to be even more reluctant about their kids enlisting if they feel they'll be exposed to gangs and white supremacists."
The 1996 crackdown on extremists came after revelations that Mr. McVeigh had espoused far-right ideas when he was in the Army and recruited two fellow soldiers to aid his bomb plot. Those revelations were followed by a furor that developed when three white paratroopers were convicted of the random slaying of a black couple in order to win tattoos and 19 others were discharged for participating in neo-Nazi activities.
The defense secretary at the time, William Perry, said the rules were meant to leave no room for racist and extremist activities within the military. But the report said Mr. Barfield, who is based at Fort Lewis, Wash., had said that he had provided evidence on 320 extremists there in the past year, but that only two had been discharged. He also said there was an online network of neo-Nazis.
"They're communicating with each other about weapons, about recruiting, about keeping their identities secret, about organizing within the military," he said. "Several of these individuals have since been deployed to combat missions in Iraq."
The report cited accounts by neo-Nazis of their infiltration of the military, including a discussion on the white supremacist Web site Stormfront. "There are others among you in the forces," one participant wrote. "You are never alone."
An article in the National Alliance magazine Resistance urged skinheads to join the Army and insist on being assigned to light infantry units.
The Southern Poverty Law Center identified the author as Steven Barry, who it said was a former Special Forces officer who was the alliance's "military unit coordinator."
"Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman's war," he wrote. "It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and 'cleansed.' "
He concluded: "As a professional soldier, my goal is to fill the ranks of the United States Army with skinheads. As street brawlers, you will be useless in the coming race war. As trained infantrymen, you will join the ranks of the Aryan warrior brotherhood."
This complicates the "fight terrorism over there, so we don't have to fight it here" argument considerably.
Also, Morris Dees is an American Hero.
this might explain the torture rape and murder of innocent civilians over there
also watch out for these nut cases when they come home and are released from the military ala mcveezy
the militias dont have to even train their own members anymore...just have the us military do it for them
word to morris dees being a true hero
For those of you who don't know who Morris Dees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Dees) is.
I know when I served there was zero tolerance for that shtein. With the proliferation of gangs, I am not surpised that this followed as well. Racists, gang mambers, and criminals will always be a part of our armed forces, and always have been. The armed forces are a representation of a country's society, and its up to the armed forces to police their own and weed out the "bad apples" as much as possible.
QuoteMr. Barfield said Army recruiters struggled last year to meet goals. "They don't want to make a big deal again about neo-Nazis in the military," he said, "because then parents who are already worried about their kids signing up and dying in Iraq are going to be even more reluctant about their kids enlisting if they feel they'll be exposed to gangs and white supremacists."
This is some bullshtein right here. If there was an overwhelming problem with black gangs joining the military they would be identified and discharged immediately. The fact that the white gangs are allowed to stay is total bs.
Typical government response though I suppose. Instead of identifying a problem and taking action to correct it, they'll just try and sweep it under the rug and hope it just goes away.
And exactly which parents is the gov't worried about here? Are they worried about white parents who have the 'All-American' son who might be corrupted by gangs and racists? Or are they worried about minority parents who's kid is not only has to deal with the fact that the enemy is trying to kill him, but now the men on his left and right may actually do the same as well.
Quote from: Sgt PSN on July 07, 2006, 09:12:18 PM
QuoteMr. Barfield said Army recruiters struggled last year to meet goals. "They don't want to make a big deal again about neo-Nazis in the military," he said, "because then parents who are already worried about their kids signing up and dying in Iraq are going to be even more reluctant about their kids enlisting if they feel they'll be exposed to gangs and white supremacists."
This is some bullshtein right here. If there was an overwhelming problem with black gangs joining the military they would be identified and discharged immediately. The fact that the white gangs are allowed to stay is total bs.
Typical government response though I suppose. Instead of identifying a problem and taking action to correct it, they'll just try and sweep it under the rug and hope it just goes away.
And exactly which parents is the gov't worried about here? Are they worried about white parents who have the 'All-American' son who might be corrupted by gangs and racists? Or are they worried about minority parents who's kid is not only has to deal with the fact that the enemy is trying to kill him, but now the men on his left and right may actually do the same as well.
Speaking from what I have seen here if you were a member of any gang and especially a racist gang you won't be around too long. Fort Hood has one of the largest problems with gang members being in the Army. From what I see down here it is mostly Latin gangs. We actually just had a briefing on this problem a week ago. This is a problem the Army is trying to address it is just one that is hard to solve because you have to have concrete evidence.
On the flip side of the coin there are also "gangs" down here that are positive too, there are quite a few in my Battalion that affiliate with S.H.A.R.P. (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). My roomate is actually a member, there is also ARA (Anti Racist Action)
Sure, at the local unit level, I'm certain that many commanders are doing what is necessary to ensure that gang members are dealt with accordingly regardless of race. The point I was making was that the Army (and/or military) , at the top levels, knew this was a problem and did nothing about it. Their reaction was to keep quiet about it and their "reasoning" for keeping quiet was because they didn't want to upset anyone's parents. But if there was an outbreak of Black Panthers in the Army, they would be quick to deal with them.
Quote from: Sgt PSN on July 08, 2006, 11:20:35 AM
Sure, at the local unit level, I'm certain that many commanders are doing what is necessary to ensure that gang members are dealt with accordingly regardless of race. The point I was making was that the Army (and/or military) , at the top levels, knew this was a problem and did nothing about it. Their reaction was to keep quiet about it and their "reasoning" for keeping quiet was because they didn't want to upset anyone's parents. But if there was an outbreak of Black Panthers in the Army, they would be quick to deal with them.
It goes above the unit level for sure, but I do tend to agree with on the statement about an outbreak of Black Panthers. Regardless you and I both know there is now place for these types of activities in the military.
Am I the only one here who regards the prospect of a race war in this country to be about as remote as it gets?
It's nothing but hyped-up lunacy from people who are mentally defective.
I can think of lots of reasons to kill people but killing them because of the color of their skin is absolutely absurd. We as a country are better than that. At least I think so anyway.
Quote from: Jerome99RIP on July 08, 2006, 01:40:02 PM
Am I the only one here who regards the prospect of a race war in this country to be about as remote as it gets?
It's nothing but hyped-up lunacy from people who are mentally defective.
I can think of lots of reasons to kill people but killing them because of the color of their skin is absolutely absurd. We as a country are better than that. At least I think so anyway.
I agree with you on both counts.
Quote from: Jerome99RIP on July 08, 2006, 01:40:02 PM
Am I the only one here who regards the prospect of a race war in this country to be about as remote as it gets?
It's nothing but hyped-up lunacy from people who are mentally defective.
I can think of lots of reasons to kill people but killing them because of the color of their skin is absolutely absurd. We as a country are better than that. At least I think so anyway.
You would think so, but relative few with those kind of ideas can do a whole lot of damage. Especially if the majority is too busy to notice it, too busy to be bothered or willfully ignores it. Historical extreme examples:
Nazi Germany (the whole Holocaust was driven by remarcably few people, the rest just ignored or blindly went along).
Former Yugoslavia (Croatia, kosovo, Bosnia)
Rwanda
Even to some degree the whole mess in Israel and Palestine (from both sides).
But even short of the extreme, people like these can do a whole lot of damage.
Quote from: Jerome99RIP on July 08, 2006, 01:40:02 PM
I can think of lots of reasons to kill people but killing them because of the color of their skin is absolutely absurd. We as a country are better than that. At least I think so anyway.
As a whole, yes the US is making tremendous progress is regards to race relations. But it's still a very serious problem. It's kind of like a tongue in cheek problem now. Not many people will say something racist out loud but I can't even begin to count how many things I've heard people say under their breath or in the privacy of their own home.
And the military is being used as a training ground for gangs of all colors. Even your average run of the mill street gang is sending it's members into the military so they can recieve weapons and tactics training. Then they take that training back to their gang and share their new found knowledge. And in addition to learning some military skills, gangs are also recruiting within the military. They're sending in one, untrained individual into the military and getting 2, 3 or more back in return.
But even short of the extreme, people like these can do a whole lot of damage
"The report said that neo-Nazi groups like the National Alliance, whose founder, William Pierce, wrote "The Turner Diaries," the novel that was the inspiration and blueprint for Timothy J. McVeigh's bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, sought to enroll followers in the Army to get training for a race war."
Quote from: Jerome99RIP on July 08, 2006, 01:40:02 PM
Am I the only one here who regards the prospect of a race war in this country to be about as remote as it gets?
It's nothing but hyped-up lunacy from people who are mentally defective.
(http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/murrah2.jpg)