Republicans Criticize Report on Extremists

Officials warn fringe right-wing groups may try to recruit GIs coming home

Video

U.S. hate groups grow (NBC News, Feb. 27, 2009) — Hate groups including neo-Nazis and the Klan have grown in recent years, feeding on immigrant and economic distrust. NBC’s Chris Clackum reports. (01:37)

April 15, 2009

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Wednesday said a Homeland Security Department intelligence assessment unfairly characterizes military veterans as right-wing extremists. House Republican leader John Boehner described the report as offensive and called on the agency to apologize to veterans.

The agency’s intelligence assessment, sent to law enforcement officials last week, warns that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country’s first black president to recruit members.

The assessment also said that returning military veterans who have difficulties assimilating back into their home communities could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or might engage in lone acts of violence. …

The agency describes these assessments as part of a series published “to facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the United States.”

In February, the department issued a report to law enforcement that said left-wing extremist groups were likely to use cyber attacks more often in the next 10 years to further their cause.

In September, the agency highlighted how right-wing extremists over the past five years have used the immigration debate as a recruiting tool.

Between September 2008 and Feb. 5, the agency issued at least four reports, obtained by The Associated Press, on individual extremist groups such as the Moors, Vinlanders Social Club, Volksfront and Hammerskin Nation. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site

Republican Radicalization Threat (April 17, 2010)

Obama, Economy Fuel Hate Groups (Feb. 28, 2009)

Obama Racist Backlash (Nov. 16, 2008)

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8/24/2009 Update

Minnesota’s biggest talker, Bachmann fears ID cards for prolifers

Report: Militias on the rise, Bachmann stoking anti-government sentiment

Southern Poverty Law Center Report: Return of the Militias

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IRAQ UPDATE

Car Blast Kills 10, Wounds 23 in Northern Iraq

April 15, 2009

KIRKUK, Iraq — A car bomb that targeted police assigned to protect northern Iraq’s oil industry killed 10 people and wounded 23 on Wednesday, police said, the latest high-profile bombing in the country.

The casualties were piled into a police truck, and police traveling with the dead and wounded fired into the air to clear traffic on the road ahead, a Reuters witness said. …

It was unclear how many of the casualties were police and how many civilian. …

Police initially said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, but some now say the attackers may have detonated an explosives-laden vehicle, targeting a bus carrying police in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

The oil-rich city is hotly disputed by Arabs, and by Turkmen and ethnic Kurds who consider it their ancestral capital. …

Most attacks in Iraq’s north are focused on the city of Mosul, where a truck bomb on Friday killed two Iraqi policemen and five U.S. troops in the single deadliest incident for U.S. forces for over a year.

A series of high-profile blasts and clashes between Shi’ite-led government forces and Sunni U.S.-backed anti-Qaeda militias in Baghdad during the same period have heightened tensions, which some analysts say could have political motives. …

Full story

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Suicide Bomber in Uniform Kills 16 in Iraq Base

April 16, 2009

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber in army uniform detonated a vest packed with explosives at a military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province on Thursday, killing 16 people and wounding 50, the army and police said.

A Defense Ministry statement and Anbar’s military command center said no one was killed, and only 17 wounded. There was no explanation for the discrepancy, although official tolls often fall far short of those from unofficial army and police sources.

“We had a regular parade, and were about to go into the cafeteria when a huge noise made me fall to the ground … I saw fire, smoke and debris … I saw people without arms and legs,” said soldier Mokhaled al-Dulaimi.

All the casualties were soldiers, the army and police said. …

Thursday’s bombing was one of a string of high-profile attacks in Iraq in recent weeks, as provinces finalize new alliances and choose new governors after January’s vote. …

Full story

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Abortion: Human Right or Human Rights Violation?

Does pregnancy from rape justify abortion? What about poverty?

Internationally known speaker and debater Stephanie Gray of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform will be on the campus of the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., to speak on these and other current life issues.

When? Thursday,  April 16 at 7 p.m.

Where? Haehn Campus Center (HCC) Alumni Hall

Admission free and open to the public

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Minnesota Budget Deficit: A Solution to State’s Budget Crisis

April 6, 2009

Five months ago, a number of conservative activist groups and legislators came together to look at the Minnesota budget, not only with the purpose to cut spending, but to consider ways to reform and restructure it for long-term spending restraint and private section growth. Here’s the group’s press release.

Lasting Reforms and Tax Breaks Instead of Hikes

ST. PAUL — A group of nine non-partisan, non-profit organizations that formed an informal coalition earlier this year to solve the state’s $6.4 billion state budget deficit has produced a plan that closes the funding gap without raising taxes — in fact, it actually eliminates some taxes. The group’s proposal was introduced at a press conference at the Capitol today.

The coalition gathered proposals from policy experts and ordinary taxpayers to help identify opportunities to restructure state spending, and then collaborated to put the ideas into practical solutions. The result is a 16-page document that solves the budget deficit using existing resources and doesn’t require federal “bailout money” or new taxes.

The budget solution document, titled “Real State Budget Reform” [PDF] includes recommendations to save the state $6.6 billion through restructuring and greater efficiencies. It also suggests “revenue-neutral” reforms that the group believe will improve Minnesota’s overall economic situation, resulting in more revenue for the state in coming biennia.

“This is more than just a band-aid,” said Phil Krinkie of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, “this is budgeting reform that will have a lasting positive impact on the state’s economics.” The budget solution document is being distributed to all state legislators and to the governor.

“Minnesotans are outraged that their elected officials are once again contemplating raising their taxes,” said Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority. “It seems some lawmakers just aren’t getting the message.” The organization announced that it will be delivering an audio CD each week from now until the end of session with voice mail messages from angry taxpayers demanding cuts in government spending.

All state legislators are also being invited to sign a form stating that they will put spending cuts ahead of tax increases in the effort of balancing the state’s budget. “We are going to make sure that voters know which lawmakers refuse to make this simple commitment to their constituents,” said Davis.

Members of the coalition include: Associated Builders and Contractors, Minnesota Family Council, Minnesota Free Market Institute, Minnesota Majority, Freedom Foundation, the Minnesota chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Taxpayers League of Minnesota, and Campaign for Liberty.