[BITList] Sex Crimes in the US Military-and a pointer that we need to be aware too!

[x50type]

Rape is considered to be part of US military life and a ‘bonus’ for all ranks not only officers. Screwing underlings is considered macho, whether the underlings consent or not doesn’t come into it. Castration should.
One of the top brass who took his eye off the ball is Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff. “I recommend a measured approach” and “Making commanders less responsible and less accountable will not work,” he said. 

That’s a blank statement – so why won’t it work? What they are doing now and for the past 20 years hasn’t worked. They are not accountable now so they can not be less accountable.

What does our chief warmonger McCain say? He recalled meeting with a woman whose daughter was considering entering the military if Mr. McCain, a former naval aviator, could offer his “unqualified support” of the choice. “I could not,” he said The same question should have been asked of the joint chiefs of staff and their entourages.

The JCOS answers don’t only dismay senators but should dismay all Americans.

And what a weak kneed betrayal by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Senator Carl Levin – it’s bloody disgusting.


Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET

Democrats and activists looking for strong reforms in response to the military's sexual assault crisis are upset with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's and Senate Armed Services chairman Sen. Carl Levin's support to soften the legislation aimed at addressing the problem.


Levin, D-Mich., said he intends to amend legislation that would give military prosecutors instead of commanders the authority to prosecute sexual assault crimes. The aim of the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is to take the decision out of the chain of command and thereby encourage victims to come forward with less fear of retribution from their commanders.


Levin, however, has sided with military leaders who argue that taking the decision to prosecute out of the chain of command would undermine commanders' authority.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the legislation Tuesday, Levin said, "It is the chain of command that can establish the zero tolerance policy for sexual assault. ... It is the chain of command that can and must be held accountable if it fails to change a military culture."

"Commanders ought to have and use the tools that are the most effective in terms of changing climate and affecting the behavior of people in their units, and that's to have available to them the power to send to a court-martial," Levin said Monday, the Associated Press reported.



Commanders have and use the tools that are the most effective in terms of changing climate and affecting the behavior of people in their units, and that's to have available to them the power to send to a court-martial.  CLEARLY THEY ARE NOT USING THEM AND ARE QUITE HAPPY TO OVER RIDE COURTS MARTIAL. 



CT  



From: John Feltham 
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2013 10:24 AM
To: Undisclosed recipients:
Subject: [BITList] Sex Crimes in the US Military-and a pointer that we need to be aware too!


Very much in the News in Australia at the moment.

ooroo




Joint Chiefs’ Answers on Sex Crimes Dismay Senators


Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, center, chief of naval operations, testified with other military leaders Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: June 4, 2013
WASHINGTON — Senator Roy Blunt sat silently for nearly an hour as his colleagues on the Armed Services Committee questioned one military leader after another on Tuesday about what they were doing to address the problem of sexual assault in the military, and then assessed their responses: “Stunningly bad.”
Senator McCaskill on Military Assaults

In particular, Mr. Blunt chided Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of naval operations, for displaying scant knowledge of how military allies of the United States had dealt with sexual assault in their ranks, and for thanking Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, for “the tip” that other countries had grappled with the issue.


“Has anybody who works for you been asking this?” Mr. Blunt, Republican of Missouri, asked with clear exasperation.


In a rare appearance together, a majority of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — as well as the commandant of the Coast Guard and other military officials — testified before the committee about how the military should approach the problem as Congress prepares to vote on several measures that would significantly change military policy.


“Discipline is the heart of the military culture, and trust is its soul,” said Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan and the chairman of the committee. “The plague of sexual assault erodes both the heart and the soul.”
Senators from both parties pressed the leaders, at times using strong language, about why, decades after the full integration of women into the military, the problem seems to have worsened. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, recalled meeting with a woman whose daughter was considering entering the military if Mr. McCain, a former naval aviator, could offer his “unqualified support” of the choice. “I could not,” he said.


Over hours of testimony, each officer expressed remorse. “I took my eye off the ball in the commands I had,” said Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.


But they collectively resisted some of the more robust changes that have been proposed. “I recommend a measured approach,” said Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.


The hearing followed several weeks of reports of sexual assault in the armed forces and aPentagon survey that estimated that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, who on Tuesday called sexual assault in the military “beyond the pale,” said the Senate would move to address the problem in the coming defense bill. “Something has to be done about it,” he said.


Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, has introduced the most sweeping proposal, which would give military prosecutors, rather than commanders, the power to decide which sexual assault cases to try. She has said the measure is principally intended to increase the number of people who report crimes without fear of retaliation and professionalize the process, but it has been largely rejected by military brass.


“Making commanders less responsible and less accountable will not work,” General Odierno said.


Among other measures that the committee is considering are those that would limit a military commander’s ability to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction for sexual assault, require dismissal or a dishonorable discharge for anyone in the military convicted of rape or sexual assault, and expand to all service branches an Air Force program that provides a special counsel to victims of sexual assault.


This week, the House Armed Services Committee is expected to pass provisions aimed at combating sexual assault within its Defense Authorization Act; the full House is scheduled to consider that bill next week. The provisions include one similar to the Senate measure that would limit a commander’s ability to overturn sentences and another that would require minimum sentences for sexual assault convictions.


Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, is particularly interested in the ability of commanders to overturn sexual assault convictions, and repeatedly questioned why a service record could mitigate such a conviction. Ms. McCaskill called a letter from Lt. Gen. Craig A. Franklin explaining his reversal of a fighter pilot’s conviction “astoundingly ignorant.”


Ms. Gillibrand also chided the leaders for sometimes understating the gravity of some of the crimes before them, noting that one commander had told a victim that he believed her assailant had not “acted like a gentleman” but had not committed a crime. “Not every commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape,” Ms. Gillibrand said.


Several advocates for victims of sexual assault also testified, in some cases offering chilling testimony about women and men who had been sexually abused and then lost their careers by seeking justice. “The military does not create rapists,” said Anu Bhagwati, who served as a Marine captain and is executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. But, she said, it does “condone sexual violence.”
A version of this article appeared in print on June 5, 2013, on page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Joint Chiefs’ Answers on Sex Crimes Dismay Senators.



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