Training with the enemy

[lady_mactrouser]

I've read the reports saying that the Iraq War has actually increased the likelihood of future terrorist attacks. But now, there's a new twist on that story, one that scares the hell out of me personally: the Southern Poverty Law Center has just released a report detailing the influx of white supremacists into the U.S. military.

The government

Comments

[realmilkbrother]

"'We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad,' he added. 'That's a problem.'"

That's it, pour gasoline on the fire.

Incidentally, the soldiers who allegedly murdered the 15-year old Iraqi girl and then killed her and three members of her family were from the 82nd Airborne Division, which is based at Ft. Bragg. Just a coincidence?

I do wonder why all these white supremacists want to join the same unit Jimi Hendrix was in.

I will have to rush out and buy a copy of Picking Up Women the Neo-Nazi Way. That guy was written up in the Denver alt-weekly Westword. Add in the neo-nazi context and the article is positively creepy: http://www.westword.com/Issues/2006-06-01/news/feature.html

[anonymous]

Never having been able to quietly walk by an opportunity to impugn those of us with faith, would you please permit me to draw a comparison between the creepy certainty of true believers, whether they share their joy in a church pew or at an all day Aryan Nation hate fest? True believers make more uncomfortable than a pair of drawers two sizes too small that I can't bring myself to part with for fear of acknowleding my weight gain.

I have a temper, and I have prejudices. I have as many shortcomings as the next guy, but even with all that going for me, I can't understand institutionalized hatred.

How can people so at odds with the status quo seem so at ease with conformity?

If you haven't already, please check out the BAG from Saturday:
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2006/07/lock_stock_and_.html

[lady_mactrouser]

I'm actually not one to impugn those with faith - I know some scary 'true believers,' as you put it, but I also know people whose faith leads them to challenge themselves and society to do better.
As for the BAG piece, I thought the most interesting piece was that the Army had taken that photo down. I don't think it's a particular crime or a particular sign of anything - other than having seen too many action movies - to shoot a lock off a door in a war zone. If I got the chance to shoot a lock off a door, I probably would, just to see what it looked like (I have definitely seen too many action movies). I don't think that photo gave me much insight into the psychology of rape and murder, in other words.
I'm with you on institutional hatred, though - I don't understand why people love to feel persecuted, or why they seem to draw such a sense of (false) power from it.