Rights group suspends analyst over Nazi collection

[admincopyright]"We do know he collects German and American World War II memorabilia, but we have questions as to whether we've learned everything we need to know," Bogert said.

Garlasco's collection was revealed last week on Mere Rhetoric, a pro-Israel blog. A blog posting said his hobby reflected an anti-Israel bias and showed he was "obsessed with the color and pageantry of Nazism."

Human Rights Watch has no evidence that Garlasco's hobby affected his analysis, and he "has never expressed any anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi statements," Bogert said.

Human Rights Watch has released reports suggesting that Israel committed war crimes during its three-week military offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip last winter. Garlasco, a weapons expert for the group, has contributed to some of these reports.

Israel has accused Human Rights Watch of paying a disproportionate amount of attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while playing down rights violations in Arab countries.

In an essay posted Friday on the political Web site The Huffington Post, a liberal political Web site and blog, Garlasco described himself as a "military geek" whose hobby stemmed from his family history. He noted that his German grandfather was conscripted into the Nazi army.

"I've never hidden my hobby, because there's nothing shameful in it, however weird it might seem to those who aren't fascinated by military history," he wrote. "Precisely because it's so obvious that the Nazis were evil, I never realized that other people, including friends and colleagues, might wonder why I care about these things."

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For background, Garlasco is a bugbear of the Israelis as he's an experienced military analyst who has condemned their targeting as indiscriminate IIRC. It's taken a while but this is an obvious attempt to nobble him.

I don't see how collecting American WWII memorabilia is evidence of an obsession with Nazism. If it was exclusively Nazi memorabilia it might be indicative but still not evidence.

He worked for several years with the Pentagon. There are many people who are fixated with Nazidom who are not politically Nazis. They are fascinated by the forbidden. They like the style. They are drawn to that which they hate. The pro Israeli crowd was frustrated so they found this

He seems to have been an Americani as well as a Nazi. Hang him, I say.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/10/human-rights-watch-israel-nazi

It has now emerged that he is also an avid collector of German and American wartime memorabilia, including awards badges handed out to soldiers working in the anti-aircraft Flak units. He is the author of a 430-page book on the Flak badges of the Wehrmarcht, and a regular contributor to two internet bulletin boards used by military collectors under his moniker Flak 88.

Several pro-Israeli bloggers have latched on to Garlasco's hobby, questioning whether it is appropriate for a human rights investigator involved in the Middle East. They have unearthed one blogpost in which Flak 88 writes: "That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!"

In another Garlasco is shown in a photograph wearing a jumper bearing an Iron Cross. A correspondent comments on the picture: "Love the sweatshirt Mark [sic]. Not one I could wear here in germany [sic] though (well I could but it would be a lot of hassle)."

Garlasco replies: "Everyone thinks it is a biker shirt!"

doubt Lemmy would be too popular in Israel in that case

Flak 88? In Britain, there is a neo-Nazi group called 'Combat 88'. The 88 stands for 'HH', and is code for 'Heil Hitler'. H is the 8th letter of the aphabet. This is actually very suspicious.

Edit: The Flak 88 was a common German anti-aircraft gun from World War 2. Him choosing the nickname "Flak 88" may have to do with the fact that he's interested in anti-aircraft units. His German grandfather served in that unit

Flugabwehrkanone Kal. 88mm = Flak 88, otherwise known as 'Acht Achter' (eighty eighter). It's a well known anti aircraft gun, which was also used in some Panzers iirc.

Yep. His German grandfather served in that unit

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/10/human-rights-watch-israel-nazi

Human Rights Watch has responded to the mounting internet attacks on Garlasco by insisting that the implication he is a Nazi sympathiser is demonstrably false, absurd and an affront to serious military historians.

It points out that his grandfather was a conscript in the German anti-aircraft units, hence Garlasco's interest, while another relative was an American B-17 crewman. In the foreword to his book, Garlasco writes "the war was horrible and cruel, Germany lost and for that we should be thankful".