Last December Stars and Stripes European Edition ran a story entitled FBI says U.S. criminal gangs are using military to spread their reach. The story has become more relevant over the last months, and has just recently gained traction on the internet.
“The U.S. Army has reported an increase in gang-related activity in the military, although their numbers are low,” (FBI Investigator Jennifer Simon) said.According to the Chicago Sun-Times: "In Iraq, armored vehicles, concrete barricades and bathroom walls have served as canvasses for spray-painted gang art. At Camp Cedar II, about 185 miles southeast of Baghdad, a guard shack was recently defaced with “GDN” for Gangster Disciple Nation, along with the gang’s six-pointed star and the word 'Chitown.'”
Gang-related activity in the military is highly underreported, and the Army is the only branch of the military that collects gang-related statistics, she wrote.
“It’s often in the military’s best interest to keep these incidents quiet, given low recruitment numbers and recent negative publicity. The relaxation of recruiting standards, recruiter misconduct and the military’s lack of enforcement (gang membership is not prohibited in the Army) have compounded the problem and allowed gang member presence in the military to proliferate,” Simon said.
Relaxed recruiting standards. Gang members with advanced infantry training. Just what America needed. Thanks Secretary Rumsfeld. Thanks George.
