Matt Kennard of Salon has written an explosive exposé of the recent ambivalence armed forces recruiters are showing towards potential soldiers that may be involved in white supremacy and the Neo-Nazi movement.
One of the biggest complaints by those on the right about the DHS Report on Rightwing Extremism was the insinuation that a soldiers returning from overseas may become targets for militant right-wing hate groups that are looking for well-trained veterans to bring experience and strength to their ranks. The right referred to this as an offense to the troops, ignoring the salient fact that Timothy McVeigh was himself exactly the kind of person this report was talking about.
The DHS report focused on soldiers that may be converted to the movement due to tough economic circumstances. Kennard’s story goes one step further, revealing that white supremacists radicalized BEFORE enlisting are finding obstacles to joining far fewer than before. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have put far more pressure on recruiters to enlist more dubious characters into the armed forces, including those with obvious Neo-Nazi tattoos.
Previously, the military was more selective and avoiding recruiting such soldiers. Things have changed.
The openly racist nature of the fight in Iraq does much to contribute to the atmosphere, with even the highest ranking officials using derogatory terms like “hajji” and “sand nigger” without a second thought.
The combination of radicalized, well trained soldiers, hard economic times, and overt, rabid demonization of an African-American president makes the far-right atmosphere an obvious powder keg and something that needs to be addressed.
What I fail to understand is why so many of the right-wing pundits and politicians would denounce the DHS report so vociferously. Shouldn’t they also be concerned with their radical fringe? Doesn’t it give them a bad name? Why would they move so quickly to defend these potential domestic terrorists, especially when this nation has already been scarred by the Oklahoma City bombing?
The only answer is that it hits too close to home. The radical right-wing fringe is closer than we imagined to the center of the right, and any repudiation of this radicalism is potentially dangerous to anyone hoping to keep their job or make their name in even mainstream conservative circles.
It’s sad that the United States armed forces, filled with men and women that put aside differences to form the strongest fighting units in the world, have to associated with this kind of nastiness, but putting the evidence aside is too dangerous for the safety of this country.