Wisconsin Sikh temple shooter Wade Michael Page was open about his neo-Nazi views when he served in the U.S. military from 1992 to 1998. We speak to journalist Matt Kennard, who details the rise of the far-right radicals in the armed forces in his forthcoming book, "Irregular Army: How the U.S. Military Recruited Neo-Nazis, Gang Members, and Criminals to Fight the War on Terror," out next month. "Every base has its problem with white supremacists because they are allowed to operate freely," Kennard says. "This is not a problem that is specific to certain bases ... it’s all over the United States. It was all over Iraq and it’s all over Afghanistan."
MATT KENNARD: Well, the interesting thing about Page is, you quoted that "Stars and Stripes" article which said he was completely open about his white supremacist and neo-Nazi inclinations in the 1990’s. It’s important to remember that during the 1990s, this was a period after the Burmeister trauma which you mentioned, and also the bombings in Oklahoma which were carried out by Timothy McVeigh, another veteran of the First Gulf War, who was decorated with a bronze star as well. So, military in the mid-1990s was embarrassed by the fact these first the active-duty veteran had committed murder; indiscriminate murder. The narrative is that they were cracking down at this point. Now, Page’s example shows this was not really the case. What is [Unintelligible] is that during the War on Terror, even the thin regulations that did exist were completely jettisoned. I spent two or three years talking to veterans, extremist veterans, much like page, and far right leaders, who basically said that there was an open-door policy during the war on terror. You could enter with swastikas tattooed on you, with S.S. boats, with, basically, — basically the military couldn’t slow down because the had two occupations to populate and not enough soldiers.
I've added the extension to the interview and the politics surrounding it... very interesting.Wow, our military's full of racist scumbags. The military recruited them with full knowledge of their hate and criminal backgrounds.
How unsurprising.
I remember reading about all the racist grafitti in Iraq, compliments of the troops we were urged to support.
Kneejerk response...can you give a little thought to this before jumping to outrageous conclusions or is it hereditary? Please...view the videos.And how would you prevent this? Do you not allow service based on what people think? As despicable as these idiots are, unless they have done something they are still members of our society. Just like any other extremist group members.
Its easy to critique it after they commit a crime. But, short of creating some Orwellian 'Big Brother' society, what would you propose we do? Do we ignore free speech because we disagree with what is said?
And how would you prevent this? Do you not allow service based on what people think? As despicable as these idiots are, unless they have done something they are still members of our society. Just like any other extremist group members.
Its easy to critique it after they commit a crime. But, short of creating some Orwellian 'Big Brother' society, what would you propose we do? Do we ignore free speech because we disagree with what is said?
Kneejerk response...can you give a little thought to this before jumping to outrageous conclusions or is it hereditary? Please...view the videos.
Then we should continue to recruit known haters, racists, neo-nazis gang members and criminals? Should we 'support' them when they go abroad and kill 'ragheads' in our name?
I'll assume you're never one who whines about how disgusting the rest of the world looks upon the notion of 'American Exceptionalism', as dealt at the hands of our military. Whining over it, after defending the practice of recruiting bigots to fight our wars, would be rather idiotic, no?
I am not sure what you really think can be done about it, should they start recruiting people with liberal arts degrees and impeccable PC credentials?
Then we should continue to recruit known haters, racists, neo-nazis gang members and criminals? Should we 'support' them when they go abroad and kill 'ragheads' in our name?
I'll assume you're never one who whines about how disgusting the rest of the world looks upon the notion of 'American Exceptionalism', as dealt at the hands of our military. Whining over it, after defending the practice of recruiting bigots to fight our wars, would be rather idiotic, no?
Kneejerk response...can you give a little thought to this before jumping to outrageous conclusions or is it hereditary? Please...view the videos.
How does one recruit racists? Is there a block to be checked "I hate all non-whites"?
Also, these recruits go in knowing they stand a very real chance of dying. The base pay for an E1 is $1,447.20 per month.
I am not condoning anything concerning these racist idiots. But I am saying that preventing it will be almost impossible unless you start punishing people for what they think.
Yes - impeccable ethical standards should be required. And I think turning people away at the door when they show up with swastika tattoos might be a good starting point.
Prior to 'The War On Terror' and Rumsfeld it was part of our military culture to get rid of people like this and to not bring them into the service in the first place, so yes.Yes - impeccable ethical standards should be required. And I think turning people away at the door when they show up with swastika tattoos might be a good starting point.
What is your problem? Why can't you get out of your own head?So its the tattoos? Do we ban only the swastikas or will other political or racist tatts be included as well?
So its the tattoos? Do we ban only the swastikas or will other political or racist tatts be included as well?
Prior to 'The War On Terror' and Rumsfeld it was part of our military culture to get rid of people like this and to not bring them into the service in the first place, so yes.
Exactly.Rumsfeld specifically wanted to fight this war (Iraq) on the cheap. When it became the expected shit-storm, it became harder and harder to recruit people so they began deliberately lowering the standards.
Go read. You only make yourself look stupid when you dumb it down with such asinine questions.
Potential recruits are automatically rejected for physical limitations. It is just as reasonable to reject them for being scumbags. Some will surely slip through the cracks occasionally, but what we're seeing is the result of known haters and criminals being accepted in spite of their track records.
Quit dumbing the discussion down. It makes you look like an imbecile.