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writing for godot

The Marines and War Department Are Lying on This One

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Written by Mark L. Taylor   
Friday, 10 February 2012 17:30
So this story about a Marine scout sniper unit proudly displaying the insignia of the Nazi "SS" should send a shiver down the spine of every freedom loving American. The Marine Corps call it a “logo”. It is not a logo, it is a military insignia; the insignia of a special cadre of murderous fascist true believers of the Third Reich.

While the Marine Corps is falling all over itself claiming they didn't know about it and, geez, those goof-ball kids out there in the boonies had no clue what the symbol really stood for anyhow, you'd have to be a brain dead Santorum supporter to think this wasn't officially tolerated, if not approved.

There's a great Marine worthy word for that: Bullsh-.

For years the military has been plagued with skin head white supremacist, neo-Nazi, full-bore Nazi nut jobs. It has been such a problem the military has had to limit tattoo art featuring Third Reich imagery. There have been cases of military weapons disappearing and right wing Nazi hate groups, like the web site "Storm Front" are always urging their members to join the military to get the weapons and tactical training necessary for their planned race war. There have been many instances of former military members providing training to such groups.

In early January 2012 about 100 soldiers at Joint Base Lewis McChord, near Seattle, were placed on lock-down after "sensitive" weapons accessories, including some kind of laser lights, went missing. This kind of thing happens more frequently than one would assume - or hope.
http://web3.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120108/lewis-mcchord-army-base-missing-equipment-lockdown )

Link to the Reader Supported News story and note the photos (http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/323-95/9901-focus-us-marines-posed-with-nazi-ss-symbol-in-afghanistan ). You will see this elite scout sniper group posed in front of a large silken white-on-blue "SS" banner hung right beneath the American flag. Note that this is no impulsive cardboard and felt-tip marker boyish prank. This banner is professionally done, crisp and clean in the middle of a war zone. This ugly travesty is as large as the U.S. flag, which is, when you think of it, a brutally frank assessment of the role of fascism in America today.

Don't for a moment believe all this CYA crap from the Marine Corps command that these boys didn't know what the hell the "SS" symbol stood for. You can't tell me that for years an elite unit of Marine sniper scouts could have this fancy banner and stencil the "SS" logo on their weapons - and probably lots of other places - and not have one member, a single sergeant or a visiting officer spot this stuff and ask: "WTF, is this treasonous bilge doing in the midst of our troops?"

Generally, volunteer soldiers - especially volunteers in highly trained elite units and especially career officers - are military history geeks; they love knowing about weapons and uniforms and books, even training manuals and frequently collect all kinds of military kitsch and trinkets like bayonets and unit shoulder patches. While there might be one or two passing yokels come through the unit who might not understand the dreadful significance of one of the 20th Century's most evil military symbols (prominently displayed in numerous movies), don't tell me these guys didn't know what evil they were tapping into.

For years the United States Air Force Academy has been disgraced by hard right Christian evangelical bullying and control. In 2010 it was discovered that a military supplier in Michigan routinely stamped the numbers of various Biblical quotations on military rifle scopes used in both Iraq and Afghanistan. (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-military-weapons-inscribed-secret-jesus-bible-codes/story?id=9575794 )

The Marines were caught up in that controversy as well.

American citizens and officials in Congress and the War Department have for too long looked the other way on this toxic pollution of American military units and tradition. These activities are illegal and often betray the very Constitutional principles and freedoms service members are sworn to uphold and defend.

It is time for citizens to understand there is a cadre of hard right, Christian fundamentalist neo-Nazi types in the military services. This is a militarized and often highly trained corps of fascist true believers and, unfortunately, the military is unable - or perhaps unwilling - to address the issue.

And don't even get me started on the timidity of the civilian leaders who are supposed to hold control of the military.
There are hundreds of thousands of American veterans of World War II who must be spinning in their graves at battlefield cemeteries across Europe and Arlington. The lack of will for the command to deal with this stuff is a deep betrayal of each and every one of those veterans.


• Check out the Military Religious Freedom Foundation which works to challenge the rising tide of radical Christian fundamentalism poisoning our armed forces: http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/

Mark L. Taylor www.thedailycall.org

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