Twisted news on military hate group labels

The groups identified in the instruction were not ‘extremist’ organizations as that term is defined in Army Regulation,” McHugh wrote in his memorandum.

So where did the Army instructors get their talking points?

“None of these slides were produced by the Army, but by soldiers who included information found during an Internet search,” Patterson told me.

“The Army does not maintain or publish a list of organizations considered extremist; and after a similar incident earlier this year, commanders and other leaders were cautioned that they should not use lists of ‘extremists,’ ‘hate groups,’ ‘radical factions’ or the like compiled by any outside non-governmental groups or organizations for briefings, command presentations, or as a shortcut to determining if a group or activity is considered to be extremist.”

Army Warns Soldiers of Christian, Tea Party 'Threat'
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Soldiers at a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told evangelical Christians and Tea Party members were a threat to the nation, according to FOX News.

According to FOX journalist Todd Starnes, another soldier attending the briefing says they were told groups like the American Family Association were "tearing the country apart."

The soldiers were also reportedly told donating to such groups could lead to punishment under military code because some of them had been classified as hate groups.

So how is this a "mea culpa" if the Army did not order it?

Mea Culpa: Army Withdraws 'Hate Group' Label
CBNNews.com
Thursday, October 17, 2013

The U.S. Army issued a correction to a National Guard training camp after a recent briefing labeled a Christian group a hate group.

The incident took place at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The briefing included a slide presentation in which the American Family Association was listed with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers.

But the Clarion-Ledger reports an Army investigation revealed that the soldier conducting the briefing had not thoroughly researched the AFA when he lumped it with actual hate groups.