TheHill.com reports GOP reps' attacks on DHS report without noting findings by Bush FBI
SUMMARY: TheHill.com reported that Rep. Peter King "called for a hearing to investigate a Department of Homeland Security report that highlights security risks posed by extremist groups and disgruntled veterans." But The Hill did not note that the DHS cited an FBI report authored under President Bush that previously identified this pattern.
An April 16 article on TheHill.com reported that Rep. Peter King (R-NY) "called for a hearing to investigate a Department of Homeland Security report that highlights security risks posed by extremist groups and disgruntled veterans." The article further reported: "King said the report could have a tumultuous effect on the veteran and military community. 'These men and women are fighting, putting their lives on the line,' said King on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' on Thursday. 'We said we'd never repeat Vietnam as far as how we treat returning veterans, and we're doing it now ... [the report] would have to be demoralizing [for troops]. It would have to be demoralizing.' " The article also reported that House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) called the report's conclusion "offensive and unacceptable." But the article did not note that as evidence for its conclusion 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," the DHS cited a 2008 FBI report -- authored during the Bush administration -- that stated, in the words of the DHS, that "some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups." In an April 15 article, Politico's Jen DiMascio reported that the FBI report had "similar findings" but "generated little controversy or coverage."
As Media Matters for America noted, in the July 2008 report, titled "White Supremacist Recruitment of Military Personnel since 9/11," the FBI's Counterterrorism Division found with "[h]igh confidence" that "[m]ilitary experience is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement as the result of recruitment campaigns by extremist groups and self-recruitment by veterans sympathetic to white supremacist causes." The report further stated: "A review of FBI white supremacist extremist cases from October 2001 to May 2008 identified 203 individuals with confirmed or claimed military service active in the extremist movement at some time during the reporting period." It also stated: "According to FBI information, an estimated 19 veterans (approximately 9 percent of the 203) have verified or unverified service in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
From the TheHill.com article:
A key House Republican Thursday called for a hearing to investigate a Department of Homeland Security report that highlights security risks posed by extremist groups and disgruntled veterans.
Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, has asked for a hearing into the matter, one day after the committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said he was "dumbfounded" by how the agency could release such a report.
[...]
[DHS Secretary Janet] Napolitano said lawmakers who had criticized the report -- including House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who called it "offensive and unacceptable" -- had misconstrued the statements about veterans and were using it as political ammunition.
"He wants to make some political hay," Napolitano said on NBC's "Today Show" of Boehner's comments. "This (report) is an assessment of things just to be wary of, not to infringe on constitutional rights, certainly not to malign our veterans.
[...]
King said the report could have a tumultuous effect on the veteran and military community.
"These men and women are fighting, putting their lives on the line," said King on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Thursday. "We said we'd never repeat Vietnam as far as how we treat returning veterans, and we're doing it now ... [the report] would have to be demoralizing [for troops]. It would have to be demoralizing."
In Thompson's letter to Napolitano on Wednesday, he criticized the report, which was authored by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, for infringing on Americans' civil liberties.
"This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war veterans," the letter read. "As I am certain you agree, freedom of association and freedom of speech are guaranteed to all Americans -- whether a person's beliefs, whatever their political orientation, are 'extremist' or not."
Right wingers forming into hate groups, I'm just shocked to find out!
See, this is the difference between Dems & Repubs: When the GOP is down & out, they fight back. Where was this kind of outrage over the Bush report in 2001 about left-wing extremists?
And I also guarentee you that the Bush admin would have defended itself and not caved let Napolitano did today and apologize.
Weak.
So everything is politics to you. Everything.
It's all about "fighting back" when one is "down and out."
It's not about governing, or this being a nation of laws. It's all about winning elections, beating your "enemies," etc. etc.
Pathetic.
Believe it or not, there are actually people out there who take their responsibilities as elected leaders seriously. If you right wing morons will just stay out of the way (Republicans clearly have no interest in helping, just dividing, ) they'll put the country back on track.
We talk about the ridiculous nature of our media in these times on this site.
I'm not going to get into a discussion about the right way to govern or which ideology works better.
But there is a reason why wrong-headed politicians when elections and gain popularity in this country. Because these are people who fight back.
When liberals appear weak and meek, the right wing noise machine will pounce, drown you out and win the battles.
Yesterday was 2 great examples of that:
1. Coverage of uncoordinated confused 250k people protesting got more coverage than anti-war demonstrations that had more people come out in 1 single city.
2. The liberals did not push back against the Bush reports claiming their organizations were potential terrorists
When liberals appear weak and meek, the right wing noise machine will pounce, drown you out and win the battles
That might have happened in the past. Not anymore. Too many people paying attention now.
The real naivete inferred by the democrat left is that the election of Barack Obama connotes that the nation suddenly suddenly converted from right of center to the extreme left. The left's overreach in its demands on the president and the president's own socialist inclinations has had a sobering affect on the citizen and many wondering how they could have elected such a person for president. You'll never see a buyer's remorse like the one America is about to experience. Obama is a one-termer, and the next congressional elections will result in a Republican rout of the democrat party. I love the extreme left of the democrat party, as they tend to wake up moderate Americans with a sanity check. The nice thing is that they cannot help themselves, being the compulsive radicals they are.
Yes, too many people are paying attention now, and the current democrat congress will be forced to actually read the legislation they propose to enact and justify it to the people. The fact that there is no open debate in congress today speaks volumes of the moronic nature of the majority congress in power and its derreliction of duty to its constituency. Yes, people are taking notice, but its causing the political pendulum to swing in an unfavorable direction for the democrat party.
"Where was this kind of outrage over the Bush report in 2001 about left-wing extremists?"
Reasonable, law-abiding lefties were smart enough to figure out that the DHS report was not about them. The same thing goes for the DHS report on left-wing extremists released in January of this year.
Oops, the 2001 report was from the DOE, not the DHS. The 2009 report was from the DHS. My bad.
pete, It won't be long now before Fox interviews the leaders of the RightWing Extremists groups giving them a platform to denounce Napolitano and the the Government and promote their cause, all in the name of Fair/Balanced reporting. And wait, there is more...by next week, Fox will have conclude an investigative report proving the some of these RightWing nuts are really Democrats, especially the few soldiers who joined these groups.
By the way, why didn't Bush release this info to law enforcement when it was ready..can you say ELECTION? During the periods prior to every other election during his term or when the heat was on, if a terrorists burped, we changed the color code and the nation was informed through all MEDIA. (What ever happened to that Rainbow Machine and how many know the color for today?) The liars keep lying and the losers keep crying.
"the leaders of the RightWing Extremists groups "
you mean Hannity is going to interview and debate himself?
... goes along with his stellar impartiality :o)
I am not sure I even understand this. Is he saying he wants to investigate the DHS because he doesnt like the conclusions of a report they made? Is he saying they are lying? Is he disputing what they are saying? What exactly is he even talking about>
If you read between the lines he is saying..'I am on the bandwagon even though it is about nothing and if your guys at Fox are listening, when I lose my place here, give me a job bacause as you can see I fit right in. Any other marching orders, just send them to PeterKing@Icanbebought.Fox
Given the hysteria on the right over this, what would be their response if anyone had reported that, in the early eighties, at least, the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (as it was known at that time), was full of white supremecists and neo-Nazis? I know for a fact that a group of them caused a disturbance at The Dubliner, a well-known watering hole on Capitol Hill, by singing "Deutschland Uber Alles," and shouting racist remarks.
Soldiers ain't saints, folks, and some of them are really bad people, just like cops, priests, and any other occupation or group you care to name.