HOW CAN WE REMAIN SILENT?
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER
One case stands out. In 2005, PFC Lavena Johnson, according to the military, committed suicide by shooting herself with her M -16 while serving in Iraq. There is not one word of truth to the Army’s story as thousands of women raped while serving their country know very well. Those who were "suicided" can never tell.
Johnson nearly beat herself to death, shot herself, poured acid on her genitals and then set herself on fire. This has been reported in newspapers, TV, military blogs and nothing is done. Reliable sources tell that Johnson was raped, sought medical care and reporter her attacker. Her attacker was informed, her medical records purged and she was murdered. Nobody could be surprised about any of this as these actions conform to typical behaviors within the military or the government’s veterans services.
How can any parent allow their daughter to serve in the military? Most prison yards are policed better and it is difficult to refute that our government and military are now a haven for sex criminals taking advantage of their power and ability to discredit victims and cover up crimes. How many dangerous sex criminals are in the military, serving at every level from the Joint Chiefs downward?
Systematic and endemic corruption flows from the top downward like sewage. Military leaders vetted, not for their ability to perform but their ability to "look away" have created a culture of corruption permeating every aspect of our Department of Defense, from aquisition of unneeded and dysfunctional systems and "revolving door" careers to systematic coverup of rape, murder and torture.
Its about character, or "lack" thereof.
The religious fundimenatlists who dominate the chaplains corps hold beliefs that women are chattel whose duty is to submit to their male masters. In many of their dominations, women are not allowed to speak in church or participate in sacriments.
Do these belief systems help create a culture of inequality and much worse?
Even in the more advanced civilian criminal justice system, sex crimes against women and children have been denied, covered up and pushed aside. Advances have been made but hardly enough. I tend to compare the culture within the military with that of the Catholic Church.
Hundreds of thousands of children, boys and girls, women, even adult men, were sexually abused by priests and nuns for decades, ok, centuries. Power to cover up, power to intimidate, power to discredit and control, always control were key factors.
The sick culture of the Church is parroted by our miltiary. Women serving in the military lack the civil rights needed for even rudimentary justice. Victims are typically ordered to "forget" crimes against them or clearly denied basic human rights guaranteed by the United Nations charter.
With all the flag waving and medals, denying women serving their country the most basic civil rights every country that is signatory to the United Nations charter has guaranteed their citizens is abominable.
Do we need to invade ourselves and try our own leaders, military and civilian, for human rights abuses? How many would hang?
Is the most dangerous place a family can send a daughter, not into combat but onto a military base, be it training command at home or forward base overseas? Is the biggest danger the brutal sex criminals who have found "a home in the Army" or the officers and NCOs who keep the culture of deceit alive?
For certain, we know this. The military can’t be trusted to investigate itself or create a reasonable environment where criminal acts against its members will be properly investigated and the guilty punished.
This given, one would expect crime to run rampant and the military to, increasingly, become a haven for criminal sociopaths who couldn’t get into Congress or the Whitehouse.
We also know that years of reports, be they of rape, murder, torture or massive corruption have generally been substantiated but few really responsible have been brought to justice and no reforms have been suggested. This is unacceptable.
Does military culture simply hate women, disrespect their service and look on them as sexual objects or, perhaps, less than human? Has the systematic indoctrination of our miltiary to look on other cultures and religions as less than human set the moral tone for a deviant military society?
Efforts are made, half hearted, perhaps as much a part of the cover-up as anything else, to give lip service to efforts to address the pattern of sexual violence in the military. You can see the tv advertisements while watching Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh.
Is the real definition of "FemiNazi" a woman who refuses to submit to rape?
Anyone note the absurdity of this? How does one support a culture of equality and continue to support messages of sex and race discrimination, thinly veiled?
How much "sex talk" reflecting the sensitivity of a "grabass" session in a prison shower goes on in the military? Is this how it is?
The proof is in the numbers, huge numbers but, we are afraid, far less than an honest accounting would yield.
We are told our military is a haven for gangs and a training ground for domestic terrorists. We have no real evidence of this. We do have more than enough evidence that something much worse is going on and more than enough evidence that the military is utterly incapable of policing itself.
It is time for someone else to step in.
Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and regular contributor on political and social issues.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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