Neo-Nazis Infiltrate the U.S. Military - Is Steven Green One?

NY Times reports:

A decade after the Pentagon declared a zero-tolerance policy for racist hate groups, recruiting shortfalls caused by the war in Iraq have allowed "large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists" to infiltrate the military, according to a watchdog organization.

As always, Digby nails it:

I'm not sure there's anything more stupid than hiring a bunch of neo-nazi's to occupy a foreign country. But it is par for the course with the Bush administration.

The thing is that it doesn't take much to push people over the line in these stressful stituations anyway. Racism is clearly rampant among the Americans already. It's obvious in this sophomoric Ali Baba/Hadji bullshit they talk all the time. I'm not even sure that it isn't part of every war to a certain extent. It's primitive stuff.

I definitely believe that racism lies at the heart of why many people supported a war against a country that had not committed any crime against ours --- and why they don't care if there were any WMD or any other justification. One dead arab's as good as another dead arab. It didn't matter which arab country we invaded as long as we invaded one and fucked some of "those people" up.

But regardless of the strain of racism that already exists in that warzone, putting white supremecists in their midst and allowing them to spew their Nazi propaganda among those frustrated, frightened, bored soldiers is a recipe for disaster. Instead of the sort of common tribal hatred you might see in any dangerous warlike environment, you suddenly have someone providing a whole philosophy and intellectual structure for it. It's the perfect recruiting ground for white supremecy and gives certain types permission to act out their violent fantasies against those they already consider racially inferior. And they are also training them to think of it in ways that are very dangerous when they come back to the US.

I don't know if these any of these atrocities we've recently heard about are related, but I wouldn't be surprised. And frankly, the way this administration has conducted their war so far, I also wouldn't be surprised if they haven't loosened the rules on this on purpose. I'm sure they think skinheads are tough guys. And we know how the chickenhawks love the tough guys.

Was accused rapist-murderer Pfc. Steven Green a neo-Nazi or a Skinhead, or influenced by their violent racism? What about the other three soliders (according to the FBI) or 9-14 (according to an eyewitness cited by Joseph Cannon)? And as Cannon reminds us, what about their commanding officers up the chain of command?

It's time for some very serious hearings by the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House.

And I'd sure love to know exactly what Holy Joe Lieberman, the Supreme Defender of Judeo-Christian Morality, plans to do about it. Or is it ok with Lieberman if the U.S. military becomes Nazified if that's what it takes for Bush to pretend to achieve "victory" in Iraq?