Far-right extremism in Dutch armed forces

This June 2010 video from the USA says about itself:

‘US Army sent ‘hardcore’ neo-Nazi troops to Iraq and Afghanistan‘

Under the Bush administration, the U.S. military allegedly started to recruit neo-Nazis and gang members to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Investigative journalist Matt Kennard talks to RT about his research into these allegations and other problems in the US military.

Translated from Jeroen van Raalte in Dutch daily De Volkskrant, 2 July 2019:

Four soldiers have left the armed forces in the past five years following extreme right-wing manifestations or behaviour. The Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) has launched 21 investigations into possible extremism within the army.

This is apparent from a list that the MIVD has drawn up according to the Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv). The vast majority of reports received by the service concerned suspicions of right-wing extremism.

So, very few reports on ‘Muslim extremism’ or ‘left-wing extremism’, which the MIVD, often being right-wing itself, might have been more keen to investigate.

The service does not want to say anything about current investigations.

The findings are cause for concern, says Matthew Feldman, head of the UK-based research institute Center for Analysis of the Radical Right. …

‘Soldiers are trained in the use of weapons and can train others in this. When you consider that many extremist groups are working towards a violent revolution, that is disturbing …

A soldier was fired last year after photographs of “extreme right-wing expressions” in barracks were found on his telephone, according to an overview drawn up by the Royal Netherlands Military Police.

Mein Kampf on the intranet

In most cases, the security service had “no suspicion of criminal offenses” after investigation. This applied, for example, to swastikas and an SS emblem in a soldier’s residence, and to a Dutch version of [Hitler’s] Mein Kampf on the Defense intranet. “Depending on the case, disciplinary measures can be taken,” the MIVD explains. They do not have to have consequences for the employment of the soldiers involved. For example, a reservist who brought the Hitler salute … is still employed. Also a soldier who showed an interest in the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik is, according to the list, not relieved of his position.

Some incidents simply received too little priority to lead to consequences. For example, in 2015 the MIVD had a soldier in sight who possibly had ties “with skinheads and right-wing extremist circles“. Although the suspicion was neither confirmed nor invalidated, the service did not free up funds for a follow-up investigation due to “prioritization”. The MIVD also considered a “white power” logo found on a toilet door in a foreign country where Dutch soldiers had been sent in 2016 to be “not relevant enough” after a brief investigation. …

Just two weeks ago, State Secretary Barbara Visser took action against five cadets from the Royal Military Academy (KMA) after sharing ‘insulting and offensive pornographic and racist footage with references to Nazi Germany’ in the Whatsapp group of their class . …

In addition, since 2017, various services have been monitoring a soldier with a post-traumatic stress disorder who had been spotted near a squat of “hardcore” anarchists. …

“With a passive working method, the question is of course whether the security service sees everything,” says Van Buuren [of Leiden University]. “The recent affairs at the Ministry of Defense testify to a closed culture in which people are reluctant to report to report abuses to superiors.”

Serious cases have recently come to light in neighboring countries. For example, two years ago the German army was embarrassed by the arrest of Lieutenant Franco A. and a couple of henchmen. According to the prosecutor, A., who was falsely registered as a Syrian refugee, wanted to commit a terrorist attack (a so-called “false flag” operation). The military intelligence service is investigating around 450 possible cases of right-wing extremism in the army, according to German media. In Britain, a corporal was sentenced to eight years in prison last year for his role in a neo-Nazi terrorist movement. Mikko V. tried to recruit fellow soldiers for an upcoming “racial war.”

It is understandable that the armed forces also attract radical persons, says researcher Feldman. “For the army, it is desirable that soldiers are to a certain degree patriotic and willing to sacrifice themselves. Right-wing extremism is those values ​​on steroids.”