Pentagon allowing extremism in US military to go unchecked: Report

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth apparently condones instances of far-right extremism in the US military, a report by The Guardian says.

The British left-wing paper revealed in a Monday report that an active-duty serviceman in the US Army is openly following the Base, a proscribed terrorist group on social media.

According to a George Washington University (GWU) investigation, the Base is a white supremacist neo-Nazi accelerationist terrorist group founded in 2018. The GWU cites the group as part of the broader neo-fascist skullmask movement.

The organization was once the target of an FBI investigation. It has vowed to recruit soldiers in preparation for a so-called race war.

Experts interviewed by The Guardian believe examples like the young private who serves in the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division show how under Hegseth, the Pentagon brushes off far-right extremism.

They say the directives issued under the previous Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austin, had explicitly discouraged this kind of social media activity.

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In February, new directives issued by the Department of Defense (DoD) and meant to reshape the Pentagon cancelled a major counter-extremism initiative rooting out white nationalists and far-right influences among servicemen.

The DoD directives held that the initiative was not in line with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

After the insurrection of January 6, 2021 on the Capitol Hill, there were revelations that at least 151 of the people who took part in the attacks were of US military background. The DoD then created a working group on extremism.

Under policies in line with the administration of Joe Biden, the Pentagon issued new directives in December 2021, defining what constituted extremist activities. That included any affiliations to extremist organizations on social media.

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The Guardian report said the Base had 30 followers on an obscure and secretive TikTok account. The aforementioned private in the 1st Infantry Division was listed as a follower.

Posts on the account promote the Base’s assassination and sabotage mission in Ukraine, neo-Nazi iconography, and plans to create “platoon-sized units of highly dedicated, trained men.”

The Guardian emailed the name of the private to the US Army for investigation.

A US military spokesperson made remarks in an email replied to The Guardian’s.

“The army will not tolerate harmful behaviors and activities – including active participation in extremist activities.”

“Army senior leaders are committed to confronting extremism in the army, identifying the root of the problem, and understanding the issue’s depth.”

Joshua Fisher-Birch, a longtime far-right analyst and expert on the Base, who had himself noticed the US Army soldier was following the Base on TikTok, said the group openly advocates active participation in terrorist activities.

“The TikTok account affiliated with the group includes a clear statement supporting accelerationism and advises joining the group to be linked up with other individuals to exploit ‘collapse.’”

“The Base has been designated as a terrorist group by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand,” Fisher-Birch said.

He said extremist organizations are still interested in political violence and continue to prioritize the recruitment of servicemen because “combat experience and military training are prized.”

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