Rapes Reported By Servicewomen In The Persian Gulf And Elsewhere

[CShine]

The United States military is facing the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops, lawmakers and victims advocates said on Wednesday.

There have been 112 reports of sexual misconduct over roughly the past two years in the Central Command area of operations, which includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, military officials said on Wednesday. The Army has reported 86 incidents, the Navy 12, the Air Force 8 and the Marine Corps 6.

<snip>

The issue came to a boil at a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where Senate Democrats and Republicans sharply questioned the Pentagon's top personnel official and four four-star generals for what the lawmakers said were inexplicable lapses in the military's ability to protect servicewomen from sexual assaults, to provide medical care and counseling to victims of attacks and to punish violators. Lawmakers said they were particularly appalled by reports that women serving as military police to helicopter pilots had been assaulted by male colleagues in remote combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, where immediate medical treatment and a sense of justice seemed to be lacking.

"No war comes without cost, but the cost should be born out of conflict with the enemy, and not because of egregious violations by some of our own troops," said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican on the Armed Services personnel subcommittee.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/26/national/26MILI.html?hp

[Devils Advocate NZ]

1. If that is what they are doing to fellow Americans...

what are they doing to Iraqi women?

[Eureka]

2. heres another elsewhere...

www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1052037.htm

"Three United States military servicemen have appeared briefly in the Darwin Magistrates Court charged with rape.

It is alleged the men in their 20s sexually assaulted two sisters at an inner city apartment earlier this month.

The servicemen were on shore leave in Darwin at the time.

They left Darwin on board their US Navy ship after being charged two weeks ago but made a special return visit to face court today.
"

The strange thing in this case though, is they were charged but allowed to leave the country, that's very strange. Ask the Aussies at Gitmo if they are allowed to leave the country until their trials.... oh yeah thats right, more than two years on and they haven't even been charged. <slaps self for getting off topic, sorry>

[I AM SPARTACUS]

3. ...and how many are unreported?

[Voltaire99]

4. How did we become like this?

Was it listening to our rage, rather than reason? Was it believing the prophets of invasion? Did we imagine that 9/11 gave us leave to commit atrocities on both the grand and the small stage? Was it having leaders who preached we could do no wrong, that we were chosen to scour the earth for its own benefit? Is a mighty military, commanded by fools and answerable to no one, capable of refraining from rape? Or is our culture fundamentally to blame - western culture, where the hooker earns more than the teacher?

Will these uniformed rapists be coming back home to rape again?

[Boomer]

5. Humans have always been like this

Men rape women. It's not an American issue, not even a Western issue, but a grim fact of life, especially during wartime. "Raping and pillaging" is not a modern concept -- it's a violent act recorded throughout history and across a broad spectrum of cultures. I applaud your indignation, but you are somewhat naive to assign blame to anything other than the violent impulses of the male of the human species.

[GetBackWorldsRespect]

6. Freepers excuse rape

Rape cannot be excused with anything.

What do you think about this freeper logic:
"112 military women have reported sexual assaults or rapes in the Persian Gulf in 18 montha. That is out of more than 60,000 women who are stationed in and around the Gulf with the military.

Compare those numbers to a study released just last week by Harvard that stated “almost one in 20 (4.7 percent) of women reported being raped, and 72 percent of the victims reported being intoxicated while being raped.” So, about 5% of our college women are being raped, not including those who were sexually assaulted, which would make the percentage even higher.

If you apply the 5% number to the 60,000 women stationed in the Gulf, we should be seeing 3,000 reported rapes. But we have only seen 112 according to the New York Times. In other words, our military women are far more safe from sexual assault and rape than our college women. And, by deduction, our military men are far more mature, professional and respectful of women than our college men. But then, we already knew that. Just don’t count on the Times or any other newspaper to report the comparison."
by meisterbrewer
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085834/posts#2

[opihimoimoi]

7. If Men were vioilated as women are, things would be far different

[dArKeR]

8. US soldiers accused of raping 100 colleagues

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=31844