posted July 29, 2006 01:23 PM              

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)--which has monitored hate groups for over 20 years--recently issued a report detailing how recruiters and commanding officers, under pressure to meet wartime manpower goals, have been relaxing standards designed to weed out racist extremists.[1] Donald Rumsfeld, despite being directly asked by the SPLC to address the problem, has been silent.

Meanwhile, white supremacist organizations are encouraging their members to join the military so they can receive the best military training in the world, in preparation for race war.

This is insane, and it has to stop now. Thankfully, Reps. Artur Davis (AL) and Eliot Engel (NY) have taken up the issue. Today, along with 30 other representatives, they will propose a resolution demanding that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld immediately adopt a clear, strict zero-tolerance policy towards racist extremism in the military and conduct a full investigation into the problem.[2]

This isn't a partisan issue--it's a basic American issue. Every member of Congress should be on board.

In 1996, shortly after a Black couple was gunned down by neo-Nazi Army paratroopers in a racially-motivated murder, the Pentagon launched a massive investigation and crackdown on racist extremists in the military, and made its restrictions on extremist activity more clear.

But that was during peacetime. The occupation in Iraq is putting enormous pressure on the military to keep enlistment up, and the current restrictions aren't clear or strict enough to prevent today's desperate recruiters from looking the other way to fulfill their quota, or to ensure that officers in the military will kick out soldiers who are discovered to be involved in hate groups. In fact, a Department of Defense investigator has said that out of hundreds of white supremacist soldiers he's discovered and reported to the military, only a handful have been discharged.[1]

Neo-nazi and white supremacist groups are on the rise -- the number of hate groups has grown 33% since 2000[3]. Many of these groups advocate violence and dream of all-out race war and genocide. It's frightening to know that many of them are serving in Iraq, and that when they come back, they'll be able to draw on their experience fighting there as they think about how to accomplish their goals.

Dangerous white supremacists should not receive military training, have access to U.S. taxpayer financed weapons, serve alongside our brothers and sisters in the military, or fight in Iraq or anywhere else. It's dangerous for other American soldiers, for Iraqis, and for this country, and the military should do everything in its power to stop it.

Three weeks ago the Southern Poverty Law Center called on Donald Rumsfeld to address this problem. He hasn't yet responded. This week, Reps Artur Davis and Eliot Engel delivered a letter signed by 40 members of Congress to Rumsfeld and will be bringing a resolution to the House floor asking Rumsfeld to take immediate action.

Please call on your representatives to support the resolution. Our military shouldn't be a breeding ground for white supremacy and other forms of racist extremism.

References:

1. "A Few Bad Men," Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, Summer 2006
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=66

2. "Congressmen Davis, Engel, Urge Rumsfeld to Apply Zero Tolerance to Racist Extremists In Our Military" (press release), July 25, 2006
http://colorofchange.org/military/davis_engel.html
http://colorofchange.org/military/signed.pdf

3. "The Year In Hate, 2005," Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, Spring 2006
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=627

4. "White supremacists enlisting in military, watchdog report says," San Francisco Chronicle, July 7, 2006
http://colorofchange.org/ref/mil2.html

5. "Racist extremists active in U.S. military" (press release), Southern Poverty Law Center, July 7, 2006
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=197

6. "White supremacists are enlisting in military to prepare for race war," Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), July 13, 2006
http://colorofchange.org/ref/mil3.html

posted July 30, 2006 02:46 AM              

Just about as scarey as having GWB as head of our country...