I'm not shocked easily but even this is beyond my understanding. The 41% & 29% are brutal.

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In today ’s LA Times, Rep. Jane Harman sheds light on the staggering number of sexual assaults within the military, stating, “Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."


Rapists in the Ranks
Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.

By Jane Harman (note: she's a seven-term Democratic member of House of Representatives, 36th Dist., California, "chairs the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence.")

March 31, 2008

The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has nowhere to turn.

These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.

The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service.

For more ==> http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-harman31mar31,0,5399612.story




Edited by M.A.R.W.A.N - 01 April 2008 at 2:23pm

I'm not shocked.  As far as current headlines go, I'm more shocked to see the Detroit Pistons unseat Shaq and the Suns...

Why does it seem likely?

ditto.

It's hard to believe I live in a time when women soldiers getting regularly raped by their own is considered normal.

I've got to give Mrs. Jane H. the credit/courage for writing this report, can't be easy in an election year. But damn, this is disturbing, purely barbaric.

There is no way in hell good can come from these kind of people, those that do it (and those that don't do anything about it).

Bloody hell, what kind of army do we have now!

Edited by M.A.R.W.A.N - 02 April 2008 at 10:22am

Hey Eli'jah ...long time