13 April 2009

Dept of Homeland Security Sez To Be on the Lookout For "Disgruntled Military Veterans"

The hits just keep on coming as they say if you fall into the right-wing veteran demographic. After recently getting profiled by the Missouri Highway Patrol and staff being warned about the "crazy vet" during thespian remakes at Penn State, the Department of Homeland Security drops an intelligence assessment that says radicalized veterans compromise the greatest potential for a domestic terrorist threat. Pow, right in the kissah!

The DHS document is classified "For Official Use Only", which means it's not supposed to be available on the internet to likes of me and TSO, but it's a leak that should be discussed because it is disturbing for a lot of reasons. From pg. 7 of the assessment (pdf):

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.
First off, I disagree with the DHS assessment that supporting the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms to protect against government tyranny is now "extremist ideology". Second, this assessment suggests that cells of disheveled veterans are somehow plotting to attack government infrastructure. I haven't heard about any in the last decade, but I'm sure curious as to what incidents the DHS is referring to when they say "replicated today".

TSO points out that the information of the great white supremacist/McVeigh-style threat that supposedly underscores returning vets comes from an outfit like the SPLC, who has a history of accusing anyone who doesn't support their progressive agenda as a "hate group" (see the case of the American Legion).

Why is the DHS using this heavily politicized information as basis for an intelligence assessment? Is the DHS going to start using David Neiwert's mouth-breathing post about a Timothy McVeigh finishing school as basis to start arresting anyone with a VFW sticker on their car? Paranoid delusion from the left about everyone in flyover Red states being a deranged gun nut is generally rhetoric to denigrate the conservative opposition. It's about as credible as a right-winger like myself saying we needed to round up liberals because their failure to bathe constituted a public health risk. I can't believe the Department of Homeland Security fell for it as a serious threat to national security.

If their was an OKC-style atrocity on the horizon from disillusioned veterans, I would certainly change my tune. But reality suggests that no threat is imminent.

8 comments:

Bag Blog said...

Back in the Clinton era there was this quote supposedly by Janet Reno, "A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible's studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools for their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the Second Amendment; and who distrust big government."

All of us right-wing conservative homeschooling Bible thumpers thought it was a bit odd to lump us into the same catagory with terrorist or "persons to be watched as a threat" as the quote goes on to say. Just because some of us are famers and know our way around fertilizer doesn't mean we go around blowing up buildings. It just means we can talk some bullsht. In fact, if we can blow things up and have a stock pile of weapons that we know how to handle, why do we need to recruit vets?

MezzoCO said...

I am speechless. That is crazy.

Lisa said...

Thank you for publishing this. The fear is unfounded. Veterans are probably the least dangerous group as far as carrying out "terrorist" threats against der vaterland.

Good for you for pointing out the unfounded statement, "replicated today". Fear is the watchword today, and we have to whip up the hysteria any which way we can.

Use the boys to pump up homeside patriotism, then slam 'em for being potential renegades when they return. Talk about insanity.

. . .but, you're not really a "right-winger," are you, LTNixon?
I always considered you a thinker.

Lyn said...

We need to love our government and trust our government in the same way and with as much enthusiasm as our government loves and trusts us.

As for the Homeland Security people and their fear of disgruntled White people - screw them. And yes it's disgruntled White people they are worried about. DHS should focus its resources on African/Arab terrorists. If they still have time and resources left over they can fight good old regular crime here in the USA. Yeah there's plenty of stuff for them to do. No need to go after imaginary threats of law-abiding Whites, armed forces veterans, and pissed off bloggers.

Anonymous said...

If the document is genuine, yes, it's a bit much. However, has anybody considered that it is a forgery or a hoax, designed to rile people up agin' the bad old gummint?

Nixon said...

Bag Blog,

It's Deja Vu all over again!

Lisa,

I find myself going hard-right by the day, but I'll try to keep perspective.

Anonymous,

I thought so too after posting that this might be some hoax. But I'll provide some links in the next post about why it's not.

Lela said...

Lt Nixon....still can't figure out the trackback thingie; so I'll let you know that I thought your post was so "right-on" that I linked to it on my blog. Keep on thinking...all the good thinkers trend to the right after a while.

Lisa said...

Thanks -- that's most excellent news :)