Rules for US soldiers ban Islamic extremism

The regulations would clearly prohibit a soldier from espousing Islamic extremism, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

US commanders have authority to discipline soldiers promoting Islamist extremism even though military regulations do not mention "jihadist" militancy, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday.

This month's shooting rampage at Fort Hood has raised questions about how the military can identify potential Muslim extremists in its ranks as the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Hasan, had exchanged emails with a radical Yemeni cleric.

Defense Department rules prohibit service members from supporting white "supremacist" causes or groups that back religious discrimination and broadly ban a soldier advocating "the use of force or violence," according to a 1996 directive.

The regulations would clearly prohibit a soldier from espousing Islamic extremism, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

- This does apply - Whitman said when asked about the 1996 guidelines. - This directive is in effect and it does apply (to Islamic extremists). -

But Whitman said it was possible the regulations would be examined as part of a sweeping review into the shooting announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Thirteen people were killed in the November 5th shooting spree at Fort Hood in Texas and lawmakers have asked if authorities missed worrying signs about the suspect, a Muslim officer whose behavior raised concerns among his superiors.

The Pentagon spokesman's comments came after retired Army General John Keane told a Senate hearing on Thursday that the military had clear rules for identifying white supremacists but lacked similar regulations for tracking Islamic radicals.

- I think we're going to find very clearly that we do not have specific guidelines on dealing with jihadist extremism in terms of the obligations of the members of the military to identify it, report it, and what actions to take, and what constitutes jihadist extremism itself - Keane told the hearing.

Keane voiced concern that "political correctness" might discourage soldiers from reporting potentially worrying behavior by a Muslim comrade, and that military rules needed to be revised to spell out how to address the danger.

- It should not be an act of courage for a soldier to identify a soldier that is displaying extremist behavior - he said. - It should be an obligation. -

The 1996 military guidelines on - handling dissident and protest activities - which were written in response to problems posed by white supremacists groups, grant wide authority to commanding officers to punish or remove soldiers if their activities pose a threat to a unit's discipline or the country's national security.