Madness

The terms of war have, almost without exception, included rape. Usually, the invading army comes in, kills the men and rapes the women. It routinely serves a strategic function in war and acts as an integral tool for achieving military objectives. HRW accessed 7/16/07.

According to Amnesty International,

In every armed conflict investigated by Amnesty International in 1999 and 2000, the torture of women was reported, most often in the form of sexual violence. Rape, when used as a weapon of war, is systematically employed for a variety of purposes, including intimidation, humiliation, political terror, extracting information, rewarding soldiers, and "ethnic cleansing".

Although women have served in various roles in military forces throughout the ages, including but certainly not limited to camp followers, military suppliers, medics and soldiers, never have we been more active in the military than today.

Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Nepal, Switzerland, Great Britain and Israel all have women in combat functions in their military. The Coalition forces in Iraq have lost 84 women to date.

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In 1987 I took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test as required by my high school. I aced nearly everything. Despite being voted Most Likely to Join the Peace Corps (I kid you not), I very seriously considered joining the Navy in order to become a chaplain.

Reagan was in the White House though and the Berlin Wall was still standing and the threat of war with the Soviets was something I was not willing to bet on. So, I chose not to join.

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Most of the rapes that have occurred by fighting forces involved the other side. The enemy. Not that that makes anything any better - any more sane. Whether a murder was "in the heat of passion" or premeditated murder matters not to the deceased.

Things seem to have taken a turn though. Last month in Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau introduced Cora, a sexual assault specialist working with the VA. Apparently military sexual trauma (MST) is so widespread within the ranks of female soldiers that Doonesbury has picked it up as a story line.

This is not the so-called "enemy" assaulting our female soldiers - these are men with our flag on their uniforms who are assaulting women in the showers and latrines.

Men who answer to our Commander in Chief who demand sex from their female subordinates.

Men who are protecting the "home front" who are denying medical attention to sexually assaulted soldiers and placing them back into the units in which their rapist still serves.

Salon.com features an article entitled, The Private War of Women Soldiers on sexual assault occurring in the military. This article is a "must read" and if you can stomach it, the letters to Salon are also pretty enlightening.

The Denver Post reported on a woman named Danielle who was raped in Kuwait.

Women's Policy Inc. reports on Military Sexual Trauma and PTSD among women.

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In 1987, I attended a party for a friend, K. He was returning home from Camp Pendleton. He was the first person I had ever known who had joined the military. When he was allowed to write, he did so, telling us stories of all of the trials he went through in order to become a U.S. Marine.

That night, like all other nights at K's house, his single mother was nowhere to be found and there was enough alcohol for all of us. With the few memories I actually have of any part of high school, I remember wearing a pair of baby blue leggings (1987, remember).

K arrived at his mother's house with a new friend that he brought home from boot camp. We were all in the backyard. K went to hug his friends. When he got to me he said, "Hi. I'm K." and put out his hand for me to shake. I had become so thin that he didn't recognize me.

Later that night, drunk and stoned off my 16 year old ass, I was making out with the other Marine, R. We went to K's room. I don't know what I had planned but it wasn't having sex with him. To this day I tell myself I should have known better. After all, it was his first hour home from boot camp.

Eventually, K heard me screaming. Or someone heard me screaming and K broke down his own bedroom door. There was a lot of yelling. He threw R out. The party ended. Someone took me home.

No one ever talked about it again. I wrote about it in a journal that was a required assignment. My English teacher never read it. She handed it back to me. It got an "A".

One guy I knew somehow found out about what had happened. He told me he wanted to help. He told me he was going to tell the school counselor. I told him if he did, I'd report him for drug use.

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I don't know what the military teaches people about how other human beings should be treated. I hear that the military is a place of honor and trust. I was raped under a bumper sticker that read, "Semper fi".

What ever it is that the military teaches, I want so badly to be wrong.

I don't think I am.