Ralph Peters is right about one thing. The Department of Homeland Security’s report (.pdf) on Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment doesn’t come with footnotes. That doesn’t mean the report is lacking real-world examples:
— (U) A recent example of the potential violence associated with a rise in rightwing extremism may be found in the shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009. The alleged gunman’s reaction reportedly was influenced by his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment
conspiracy theories related to gun confiscations, citizen detention camps, and a Jewish-controlled “one world government.”
But Mr. Peters is outraged by this internal report that was initiated under the Bush administration and marked…
(U) LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION NOTICE: This product contains Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) information. No portion of the LES information should be released to the media, the general public, or over non-secure Internet servers. Release of this information could adversely affect or jeopardize investigative activities.
(U) Warning: This document is UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U//FOUO). It contains information that may be exempt from public release under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). It is to be controlled, stored, handled, transmitted, distributed, and disposed of in accordance with DHS policy relating to FOUO information and is not to be released to the public, the media, or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know without prior approval of an authorized
DHS official. State and local homeland security officials may share this document with authorized security personnel without further approval from DHS.(U) All U.S. person information has been minimized. Should you require the minimized U.S. person information, please contact the DHS/I&A Production Branch at IA.PM@hq.dhs.gov, IA.PM@dhs.sgov.gov, or IA.PM@dhs.ic.gov.
…because it supposedly slams veterans. But the report (which, again, was initiated by the Bush administration) was never intended to be released to the general public. It is a piece of analysis created for the benefit of state and local law enforcement. One of the reasons it is lacking in sources is that all personal information has been minimized. If you want the footnotes, so to speak, there are email addresses you can use to seek them. Based on these facts, it should be self-evident that this document is not political in nature. It doesn’t seek to smear veteran’s or right-wing groups, or conservatives.
It should be remembered that prior to 9/11 the biggest terrorist attack in U.S. history was the Oklahoma City bombing carried out by Gulf War Veteran Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh had a few co-conspirators, but his example really does prove that ‘you only need one’ wacko to cause a lot of loss of life. If Mr. Peters had asked how much domestic surveillance of returning veteran’s is justified to try to protect us against the recurrence of another Oklahoma City bombing, I would have tremendous sympathy for his argument. Just because one lone-wolf opponent of war might set off a truck bomb in protest is not a good enough reason to invade the privacy of every war protester. Likewise, the potential for a returning vet to turn to right-wing extremism and carry out a domestic terrorist attack is not sufficient reason to violate the privacy of every veteran or veteran’s group. The government needs to keep a kind of cursory eye on organizations to look for signs of radicalization. Basically, this means calls to violence, sedition, secession, and revolution. If there are no signs that Quaker protesters are contemplating such acts then they should be left alone. The same is true of VFW halls and other veteran’s groups.
However, the DHS report notes some disturbing trends.
DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and
radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from
military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the
capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out
violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist
groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from
the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.
Notice that their assessment emphasizes that rightwing extremist groups (basically White Power and militia groups) are the ones seeking out veterans, and not the other way around. And, importantly, the DHS makes the following additional assessment (emphasis mine).
DHS/I&A assesses that lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent rightwing
extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States. Information from law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations indicates lone wolves and small terrorist cells have shown intent—and, in some cases, the capability—to commit violent acts.
In other words, DHS assesses that Timothy McVeigh-types are more of a threat to the country than our own Muslim population. That might come as a surprise to conservatives that have absorbed all the Bush-era Muslim-menace propaganda, but it’s nothing more or less than the impartial analysis of the Department of Homeland Security. And, remember, this report was initiated by the Bush administration and was never intended for public consumption. It was never meant to stir up fears or make any political points. How, then, are we to react to Mr. Peters’ heated response?
HOLLYWOOD and countless professors warned us: Military vets are drooling trailer-trash who beat their wives and, at best, wind up as homeless street people — at worst, as homicidal psychos deformed by war.
Now, thanks to our ever-vigilant Department of Homeland Security, the full extent of the danger has been revealed: Our so-called “war heroes” are rushing back to join right-wing-extremist hate groups to overthrow our government.
Of course, the DHS report doesn’t claim that our veteran’s are trailer trash, nor does it say that they are rushing to join right-wing-extremist groups to overthrow our government. What it actually says is that right-wing-activist groups are actively recruiting veterans because they value their expertise with weapons. It also notes that there is some evidence that a few white supremacists joined the military in the first place to gain expertise in weapons. Does that a) surprise anyone, and b) reflect badly on veterans in general?
Mr. Peters goes on:
The report adds that “rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans” who “possess combat skills.” The point? Our hayseed, uneducated, unskilled, wacko vets aren’t able to think for themselves and will be patsies for right-wing fanatics. Guess that’s how things look from Harvard.
That’s some nice anti-elitist rhetoric, but there’s no reason to think that the category of U.S. Veteran bestows any special magic powers of resistance to extremist recruitment that is not shared by Palestinian or Afghan and Pakistani villagers. There are always a few people in any population that are susceptible to radicalization and indoctrination. Difficult economic times and the experience of combat can radicalize a U.S. veteran just as easily as it can a Saudi or other veteran of the wars in Chechnya, Kashmir, or Iraq.
What’s odd is the conservatives’ need to festishize military veterans. Democrats are actually much more generous in terms of offering monies for health care and educational training to veterans. But we don’t treat them as if they are individually above reproach. If you take a close look at any right-wing white supremacist or militia group, you’ll notice that they have a healthy number of U.S. veterans among their ranks. That means that some of them must have been actively recruited, while others probably sought those groups out on their own initiative. According to the assessment of the DHS, these groups are the single biggest domestic threat we face. Considering the threat that American Muslims might provide logistical help to groups like al-Qaeda, it’s quite telling that DHS is more afraid of neo-nazis and militias. Rather than huffing and puffing about how this unfairly maligns our returning veterans, we ought to think about why we have this problem.