Homeland Security Report Issued Despite Civil Rights Concerns

The Associated Press says that the Homeland Security report on “right wing extremism” was issued despite objections from the Department’s civil rights division:

Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department did not agree with some of the language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway. …

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency’s civil rights division. Kudwa would not specify what language raised the concerns.

There must be a story behind this vaguely-reported conflict. Why the hurry to rush the report into the hands of local law enforcement? Was someone at Homeland Security anxious to get it out before the “tea parties” that were scheduled for April 15? If not, then what gave the report such urgency? Its strongest warning was against the possibility of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan turning to violent, right-wing extremism, but veterans have been returning from Afghanistan since 2002 and from Iraq since 2003. An investigation of the circumstances under which this report was written and disseminated appears to be in order.

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