Neo Nazis Infiltrating US Military in Iraq

In 2006 the Intelligence Report revealed that white supremacists and neo-Nazi skin heads were taking advantage of lowered recruitment standards to infiltrate the US armed forces. Men like Matt Buschbacher and Forrest Fogart were well established neo Nazis before joining elite units in the US military.

Ten years ago Pentagon leaders tightened recruitment policies regarding members from extremist movements after the Oklahoma City bombing, which was committed by decorated Gulf War combat veteran Timothy McVeigh, and the murder of a black couple by members of a skinhead gang in the elite 82nd Airborne Division.

Since the rule changes, large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists continued to quietly infiltrate the military, but enlistment became easier after the Iraqi war, when Military recruiters and base commanders who came under intense pressure to fill the ranks, began to look the other way.

One might wonder why a neo-Nazi would want to join the US Military. There is, apparently, no better place to learn the art of destruction. For instance the soldiers, who join the MOS units, or Military Occupational Specialty units, learn how to disarm Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs), those nasty devices that explode all over Iraq. Apparently, the training to disarm these devices first entails learning to build one. The perfect skill for someone who believes, as one neo Nazi web poster and recent MOS recruit professed "Once all the Jews are gone the world will start fixing itself."

Forty members of Congress urged former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to launch a full-scale investigation and implement a zero-tolerance policy toward white supremacists in the military. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, wrote in a separate open letter to Rumsfeld. "We witnessed with Timothy McVeigh that today's racist extremist may become tomorrow's domestic terrorist."

Unfortunately, neither Rumsfeld nor his successor, Robert Gates, enacted any sort of systemic investigation or crackdown to week out neo Nazi extremists, nor has there been any attempt by Military commanders to weed out extremists already recruited. New evidence suggests that the problem has grown as enlistment rates have continued to plummet, with the military accepting even lower quality of soldiers.

A new FBI report (PDF) indicates that white supremacist leaders are recruiting active-duty soldiers and combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to join the white supremacist movement.

The report indicates that neo-Nazi leaders are targeting active duty military personnel without documented white supremacist histories or identifying tattoos to infiltrate the military as “ghost skins” in order to recruit and receive training specialized training that will ultimately benefit the movement.

The army is currently investigating several crimes, including homicide, committed by several members of white extremist neo-Nazi groups. No official action is being taken to restrict the number of neo-Nazi’s that enlist in the armed services.
Sources: .David Holthouse, Hate Watch