By Jared Allen
Posted: 04/19/09 11:03 AM [ET]
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday portrayed veterans as victims – not perpetrators – of right-wing extremism as she sought to combat the political controversy arising out of an April 14 Homeland Security memo warning that returning soldiers could be ripe for domestic terrorism participation.
“The report is not saying that veterans are extremists. Far from it,” Napolitano said on CNN’s State of the Union. “What it is saying is returning veterans are targets of right-wing extremist groups that are trying to recruit those to commit violent acts within the country. We want to do all we can to prevent that.”
The April 14 DHS report on the dangers of right-wing extremism said that such groups “will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”
And the report noted that there is recent historical precedent for the concern among the counterterrorism community.
“The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today,” the report continued.(What is this about? Does anyone remember? - Haz)A number of Republicans lashed out at the report, honing in right away at its assessment of veterans.
The day following its release, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) demanded an apology from Napolitano.
“To characterize men and women returning home after defending our country as potential terrorists is offensive and unacceptable,” Boehner said. “The Department of Homeland Security owes our veterans an apology.”
Napolitano said she regretted the politicization of the report, but defended it as another in a series – from her department and others – that have reached the same conclusion.
“I regret that in the politicization of everything that happens in Washington D.C., some took offense,” Napolitano said. “But when you read the report, what it was saying was, look, we have a threat of terrorism within our own shores, and one of the groups being targeted to see if they would be aligned with that are some of our veterans.”
“In retrospect, anything can be written differently to prevent politicization,” she continued. “But I think any fair reading says this is very consistent with other reports that have been issued before. They were issued before Obama was president, they’re being issued now. They’re meant to give people what’s called situational awareness, and they’re certainly not meant to give offense. Far from it.”
Napolitano also defended another of the report’s politically sensitive conclusions; that emerging domestic terrorist threats “may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,” which also drew criticism from Democrats concerned about the erosion of civil liberties.
“The last thing the Department of Homeland Security is about is infringing on anybody’s constitutionally protected rights,” Napolitano said in response. “On the other hand, at the very edge of the [abortion] debate, at the very edge are the extremists groups, that have committed violent crimes, bombings and the like.”
The Homeland Security Secretary also departed from her predecessor, Michael Chertoff – as well as many other former and some current intelligence officials – in defending President Obama’s decision to release the CIA enhanced interrogation memos.
“I think the release of them is very consistent with what President Obama said during the campaign and how he’s conducted his government. It’s about transparency, it’s about accountability,” she said. “People can differ on this. But when you look at this overall… it was imperative, really, that the report was released.”
The former Arizona governor also pushed back against recent comments by former Vice President Cheney that America is less safe with Obama as president.
“I can look you in the eye, I can look the American people in the eye and say, every day we think about the safety of the American people,” Napolitano said. “We believe that you don’t need a Guantanamo to improve the safety of the American people and minimize the risk of terrorist acts.”
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/napolitano-vets-can-be-victims-of-right-wingers-2009-04-19.html
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