Group warns Congress of racial extremistshin the U.S. military

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Saying that the U.S. military may inadvertently be training "future domestic terrorists," the Southern Poverty Law Center on Friday asked Congress to strengthen policies against racial extremists in uniform.

"Evidence continues to mount that current Pentagon policies are inadequate to prevent racial extremists from joining and serving in the armed forces," Morris Dees, founder of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, wrote to the heads of four congressional committees. "Because the presence of extremists in the armed forces is a serious threat to the safety of the American public, we believe Congressional action is warranted."

In the 1980s and 1990s, defense officials issued and strengthened regulations against hate speech and activity. But the center's 2006 report to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not produce any action, said Heidi Beirich, the organization's director of research. Pentagon officials insisted regulations prohibiting participation in white supremacist groups were adequate, she said.

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Group warns Congress of racial extremists within military | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com