Thread: Homeland security chief apologizes to veterans groups

Homeland security chief apologizes to veterans groups

Janet Napolitano regrets line in report on extremist groups

Report said returning veterans are ripe for recruiting by extremists

American Legion objects to report; VFW defends it

Conservative radio hosts, bloggers had brought attention to report


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized Thursday after some veterans groups were offended by a department report about right-wing extremism.

(video)

The report said extremist groups may try to attract veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also said extremists also may use the recession and the election of the nation's first African-American president to recruit members.

The American Legion was among those who objected to the report's mention of veterans.

"I think it is important for all of us to remember that Americans are not the enemy. The terrorists are," the American Legion's national commander, David K. Rehbein, said in a letter to Napolitano.

Napolitano apologized on CNN on Thursday morning.

"I know that some veterans groups were offended by the fact that veterans were mentioned in this assessment, so I apologize for that offense. It was certainly not intended," she told CNN's "American Morning."

She said the report was an assessment -- not an accusation -- and said she would meet with leaders of veterans groups next week.

She noted that the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which bills itself as the nation's largest combat veterans group, defended the report.

amFIX: Full Napolitano interview

Glen M. Gardner Jr., the national commander of the 2.2 million-member VFW, said the assessment "should have been worded differently" but served a vital purpose.

"A government that does not assess internal and external security threats would be negligent of a critical public responsibility," he said in a statement.

The report mentioned numerous factors that could strengthen right-wing extremists, including anger over illegal immigration and the poor economy.

Yet it was the section on veterans that caused controversy among conservative politicians and some veterans. It said "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone-wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks." It cited Timothy McVeigh, who returned from military service and went on to bomb the federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1995.

"Timothy McVeigh was only one of more than 42 million veterans who have worn this nation's uniform during wartime," wrote Rehbein, the American Legion commander. "To continue to use McVeigh as an example of the stereotypical 'disgruntled military veteran' is as unfair as using Osama bin Laden as the sole example of Islam."

The report, which was prepared in coordination with the FBI, was published last week. It was distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement officials. Mainstream media outlets picked up the story after it was reported by conservative bloggers. Watch how the report sparked objections »

Though the nine-page report said it had "no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence," it said real-estate foreclosures, unemployment and tight credit "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past."

The report compared the current climate with that of the 1990s, saying a recession, criticism over outsourcing of jobs, and a perceived threat to U.S. power at that time fueled a "resurgence" of right-wing extremism.

However, it said, "Despite similarities to the climate of the 1990s, the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years."

It warned that the groups may use proposed restrictions on firearms and the debate on immigration as recruiting tools, and said the groups may try to reach out to veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh decried the report on Tuesday, saying, "There is not one instance they can cite as evidence where any of these right-wing groups have done anything," according to a transcript of his remarks on his Web site.

"You have a report from Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama, Department of Homeland Security, portraying standard, ordinary, everyday conservatives as posing a bigger threat to this country than al Qaeda terrorists or genuine enemies of this country like Kim Jong Il," he said, referring to the leader of North Korea.

Michael Savage, another conservative commentator, also criticized the report.

"What does Big Sis say these right-wingers are concerned about?" he wrote on his Web site, referring to Napolitano.

"Illegal aliens, the increasing power of the federal government, gun grabs, abortion and the loss of U.S. national sovereignty. In other words, anyone who is worried about preserving our borders, language, and culture is on Big Sis' watch list."

In a written statement Wednesday, Napolitano said the agency is on "the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not -- nor will we ever -- monitor ideology or political beliefs."

She said she was "briefed" on the general topic, which "struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution."

Napolitano said in her statement that she will tell Rehbein face-to-face that the Department of Homeland Security honors veterans and employs thousands of them, including Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute.

The Obama administration in January issued a warning about left-wing extremists. Both reports were initiated during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/16/ ... pstoryview

Col. Ralph Peters on Janet Napolitano's Apology



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJPnijk5Wg

WOW! That's some interview. FOX was on top of that one.

I can't prove or verify this so if someone else can..great. I have heard that the Southern Law Poverty Center is behind this.

As a veteran I am saddened..as an anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant opponent, I am scared. If I dd not know better this memo was pretty much saying what is true in the world and demonizing the normal Joe and Joette.

God Bless!

Article IV, This CBS News article could possibly show a connection.....or parallel
==============================

Return To "Days Of Timothy McVeigh"?
Report Cites Sharp Rise In Number Of Hate Groups In U.S.
Comments 61
MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 15, 2009


Southern Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees, on The Early Show Wednesday (CBS)


Rise In Hate Groups
Harry Smith spoke with Poverty Law Center founder Morris Dees about the 50 percent rise in American hate groups since 2000.


Rise In Hate Groups (2:57)
Homegrown Threats (1:33) » More Videos

Related
Stories
Hotsheet: DHS Report Warns Of Right Wing Extremists


(CBS) Two new reports document a significant rise in the number of hate groups in the U.S.

One of the reports is from the Department of Homeland Security.

The other, from an organization that has tracked extremist groups for the past 40 years, found a 50 percent rise in the number of such groups since 2000, to 926 today.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report attributes the increase in part to the election of President Obama as the nation's first black president, and to a backlash against Latinos. Another factor: the weak economy.

The SPLC report says hate group activity in the U.S. was "disturbing and widespread" last year.

SPLC founder Morris Dees says the DHS report should "be taken very seriously. What we found in our Intelligence Project we've run for a number of years here is the political climate, the election of (Mr.) Obama, the immigration issues that have faced the united states over the last five to ten years, and now, especially, the economy, are almost causing a resurgence of what we saw in the days of (Oklahoma City federal courthouse bomber) Timothy McVeigh -- almost a militia movement that's being reborn in the United States."

Dees says he thinks, "An American person is much more likely to be harmed by a domestic terrorist extremist group than by one from abroad. The death of the three police officers in Pittsburgh about two weeks ago was committed by a guy who shot these three officers, by a person who was adherent to the hate Web sites and their belief that the United States government is evil, is going to take away our rights, is going to take away our guns. And we have to look at the returning veterans, coming back from Iraq, a war that was probably ill-conceived."

DHS says those veterans are being "particularly targeted and recruited by" hate groups, Smith pointed out.

"No question," Dees agreed, "because they have training in military explosives, like McVeigh did. And actually, we at Poverty Law Center have reported to the Department of Defense that there are active-duty extremist members in the military, and some of these people have been removed by the Department of Defense. It's a serious issue, especially with a lot of these guys coming back with post-traumatic stress syndrome, coming back to a failing economy, inability to buy a home, get a job, and get credit. It's a serious matter that reflects, I think -- I think it reflects well on the Department of Homeland Security that they're taking domestic terrorism seriously."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/ ... 6672.shtml

She needs to apologize to the rest of us right-wing extremists.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

She needs to apologize to the rest of us right-wing extremists.

Dixie

That's my thought also Dixie.

Just because we want out current immigration laws enforced makes us extremists. How upside down is that?

I'm sitting here in my home of Tennessee tonight listening to Fred Thompson on the radio. I think I just figured it out. I hope DHS is reading............
...............
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..............You are a terrorist if you pay taxes. That pretty much sums it up. Don't pay taxes or want to pay taxes then, well, you are not an enemy of the state (lower case 's' intended)

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4145--0-0.html

Originally Posted by jean

Originally Posted by Dixie

She needs to apologize to the rest of us right-wing extremists.

Dixie

That's my thought also Dixie.

Just because we want out current immigration laws enforced makes us extremists. How upside down is that?

Me too and although I am a registered Independent I am a Ron Paul fan,a veteran,against gun control and against Illegal Immigration so I guess I am considered a quadruple threat.

Does this mean all those Texans who voted Ron Paul for the House of Reps are terrorist suspects too ?

Insanity reigns at DHS !!