What is wrong with the American army?

Women in the u.s troops sent to Iraq have been raped. Raped by male officers on their side! wtf is wrong with the u.s?

Take a look at this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFXQ0lOcLVw


They can't even protect the women in their own army. Forget about the civilians and lives in Iraq. Are you concerned about women you know that have been or still in Iraq? 1 in 3 women get are sexually abused. Sigh. The u.s is all messed up.

There are some things I like about the U.S. But the government and the war is so wrong. I feel bad for the women that join the u.s army. Just a sexual object to the male and senior male officers.

Damm those rapists!

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I see what you mean. The film or documentary is to make people aware of what is happening. So no story, no movie. Also, it isn't that 1 in 3 women in the u.s army is abused sexually. But 1 in 3 women in the army is raped. Don't know if you or I believe the numbers. Also that Asian women, what was she doing going to Iraq anyway. Go defend Korea. If her story is true, then she has got more courage than most people. She has been raising awareness of war rape among the American troops. Well you know how it is. The real news never gets much exposure. The government and army will just want to cover it up. But yes, we do need to question it. Could more and more women come forward?

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So no story, no movie.

Since when did movies need a true story? They'll make stories up out of whole cloth to suit an agenda. For instance, the Erin Brockovich story has been questioned by authorities in that field.

As for why the Asian woman went to Iraq instead of Korea, I presume it's because she's an American citizen who enlisted and was sent there. ??

Yes, movies do not need a true story. But there are women coming forward about rape that is happening among troops. I am going to keep my attention on this war rape situation in Iraq, to learn more about it. Yes I know she is a citizen of America and chose to join the forces. But she is not from America.

She also says (either in that video or another interview she has done) that she wanted to do something and be part of history or good causes, something like that. Well the u.s army are the invaders. Be proud? How do you be proud by killing? If I ever meet someone from the army over here. I am going to stare them in the eye with a straight face and ask. "You ever kill anybody?"

Sigh. That Asian woman looks pretty too, I don't blame the officers being attracted to her. But women like her that join the u.s army have put them in a vulnerable position for rape.

I googled and the first two websites were Pakistani newspapers claiming that 25% of females in the military were raped by fellow officers -- so no surprise there!

I did a search on the NYT website and found this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/us/28women.html?pagewanted=all

Women historically face abuse in a male dominated environment. So long as males accept it among themselves, it will continue. Somehow men are able to separate the object of their power from their own relationship with mothers and sisters. What a man says and how he behaves are two different things. Some men who say the most against harm to women are among those who perpetrate crimes against women they are able to dehumanize in their minds. "Those women" are acceptable targets while others need protection. "Those women" could be whatever class of women or certain women their mind conjures up as their target.

Statistics vary because reporting is impeded by the fear of reprisal for reporting.

Military service holds out carrots of paid college education and training for future employment that brings many people into the fold, men and women, for those benefits. Re-up bonus payments are also exceptional. Survivors have an early retirement that gives them a sound financial basis to start second careers. In poor economic times, miliary service is a paying option to poverty. Additionally, the service mission is a carrot to those who are full of patriotic zeal. They are not going to war; they are serving their country. How can you fault that? They choose to follow the dictates of their country and serve its needs.

Thanks for that Shelagh. It's all human behaviour. The women seem to be abused mostly by officers of a higher rank. Women need to be vulnerable to be attractive to men. But Dkchristi, you say they are not going to war? Yes, they are serving their country. But they are still going to war.

Your focus on the US and the American army seems misplaced, builder:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/may/26/gender.military

Maybe we need to take a deeper look into who and what is messed up here. Rape and harassment are unconscionable under any circumstances, but it is not a problem limited to the American military.

Ann

Yes, maybe it isn't just the u.s army. Yes, it could have happened before. But we are talking about the war in Iraq. We are talking about the u.s, the country famous for being number 1. You seem like you are trying to save face. Whatever it is, the news is Iraq, it is what is happening today and who is at war. Why do I focus on the u.s army. Well, they are invaders. I don't see Korea, China, Singapore or France in this war.

builder wrote:

Yes, maybe it isn't just the u.s army. Yes, it could have happend before. But we are talking about the war in Iraq. We are talking about the u.s, the country famous for being number 1. You seem like you are trying to save face. Whatever it is, the news is Iraq, it is what is happening today and who is at war. Why do I focus on the u.s army. Well, they are invaders. I don't see Korea, China, Singapore or France in this war.

So, are we talking about "this war"? I thought we were talking about the mistreatment of women. I don't think the US has a monopoly there.

Ann

Times have changed. When I was in the military and my early years in the workforce, I never heard the term sexual harassment. That doesn't mean women weren't harassed, but it was an accepted norm. As for the military, women were initially used in non-combat positions. They fought for equality to serve beside the men and that created more problems, and the problems will not go away so long as there is an attraction between male and female. Unisex is not normal. The olympic games separate Men and Women events. Complete equality between Men and Women does not and cannot work.

Interesting comment Abe, thanks. But you believe complete equality between men and women cannot work? In sport they separate men and women because it is not competitive to put them in the same sport, as physically men are stronger than women.
I don't know what to say about this. I don't know why it won't work. In China, they favour boys to girls. Why? I don't like that sort of backward thinking. Many girls are abandoned, sold or adopted by u.s citizens. But rape is a serious matter. Why don't they just ask instead of rape? Or pay for sex services lol. Maybe rape is more about power.

Rape is a violence and power issue.

My son has been in the military for six years and has been deployed twice.
He's not seen such things. He works with women. The teamwork/respect/trust that is required to survive in a war zone extends to all soldiers. Male and female.

As a firefighter he has also worked side by side with female firefighters. This line of work also requires that they trust each other with their lives.


As a woman who has worked in a number of mainly 'male' type jobs (airline ramp worker, aircraft fueler, EMT, and now truck driving), I've found that women who are capable at their job and behave with self respect tend to find that most men will treat them with respect in turn.

I am not saying rape does not happen.

But I don't believe the statistics and I don't trust hype.

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LC wrote:

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In China, they favour boys to girls. Why? I don't like that sort of backward thinking. Many girls are abandoned, sold or adopted by u.s citizens.

China is going to have to ship all those excess males off to a war or something, because their one-child policy has resulted in 18 men to every woman. 17 of those men will never find wives.

I read an article saying that the Chinese are now worrying that they've raised a generation of spoiled brats, lol, in addition to the male/female imbalance, and are now questioning the wisdom of that policy.

It is high time they questioned themselves.

Abe wrote:

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Complete equality between Men and Women does not and cannot work.

I respectfully disagree. Men and women are not the same (Thank God!). They each have something of value to add to any interaction. Some men still have a problem with that. They are used to being in control.

DK wrote:

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Rape is a violence and power issue.

I agree with this statement 100%. It is primarily, I think, about power. Alvin Toffler, in Future Shock, delineated the three basic sources of power: violence, wealth, and information. For individuals who feel powerless, and do not have access to the higher levels of wealth and information, violence can become a solution. Rape is probably the most extreme form of control over another individual. It is not necessarily an act of men against women, although, in our society, that is the most common. I agree with JoElle that the incidences of this extreme response are sometimes exaggerated. Most of the time, more and more of the time, the issue can be resolved before it goes so far.

What is needed is a means for society to come to terms with that equality between men and women, and accept it and work together through cooperation rather than competition.

I've been told that my blog article for Joseph Campbell Foundation's MythNow blog will be available by tomorrow. In one part of it, I address the differences between the hero's and heroine's journeys, and draw some conclusions as to how the conflict can be resolved for both men and women.

Give it a look. (If is isn't there by tomorrow, it will be soon. The people who work on the site are volunteers, and very busy people.)

Ann

If a woman dresses and behaves like a man, her sexuality is questioned. If she dresses and behaves like a woman, she is accused of flaunting her sexuality. Finding the balance is a challenge for every woman, one of the maturing aspects of her life that she has to resolve along the way. The age she passes through affects these decisions. In the high hormonal teen years, young women are driven to flaunt their bodies and tempt young men who are certainly tempted. Many young men and women enter the military at the cusp of those hormonal years, perhaps not totally resolved on how to manage themselves and their choices. However, "no" is always "no." Anything that follows to force the issue becomes not sexual but a display of power. The consequences of rape for a woman may change her sense of self for the rest of her life; rape survivors often carry a haunted look in their eyes that never leaves. Their concept of sexuality may be damanage forever, their self esteem broken. Many engage in lives they never would have considered without the damage done to them at a critical time of their formative years. Many women with eating disorders from anorexia to obesity are vicitims of rape and/or incest.

I have also worked in many male-dominated career environments and the issues are as varied as the character of the workers, male or female. However, male forgiveness of each other's sexual transgressions creates an environment that accepts sexual inuendo toward women and makes it possible for the man who is needing to express himself through power over others, to get away with rape and lesser offenses toward women.

Women don't generally tell about rape because it's so abhorrent to retell and unbelievable to the person listening. Their damage is a secret death of spirit or a very real death from violence. What justice is there? Telling's only reward may be the prevention of another suffering woman; but for the initial victim, there is no restitution.

Just because you don't know of it doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Age or beauty has no relevance. It is a crime of power and violence against which women have little protection beyond their own devices. A normal man of good character does not rape a woman. He understands "no;" just as normal, well-adjusted people do not commit battery or murder.

Well I know a lot of North Korean women are smuggled into China to fill the shortage of Chinese women. The communism is so bad in North Korea, that a lot of women are left to starve. I don't disagree with the one child system in China. The amount of people needs to be controlled. It's the belief that having a son is better than having a daughter that's the problem.

Also, what never seems to get to the news, is that lots of chinese believe that life was harder when they were allowed as many children as they wanted. Now, life is easier with only one child to deal with.

A generation of spoilt brats? LC, what about kids in the west? China is to become the largest economy, sooner than you think. People there, work and save at least 30 percent of their income, while the west is based on lending and consuming. That is why the u.s and the west is in debt and in trouble. China has lent billions to the u.s.

I said: "Complete equality between Men and Women does not and cannot work."
I stick with that statement.

Ann said:
"I respectfully disagree. Men and women are not the same (Thank God!). They each have something of value to add to any interaction. Some men still have a problem with that. They are used to being in control."

Men and women are not the same, and that is my point. The day they become the same, everyone will be homosexual. Feminity is the attraction for men. How a man conducts himself toward the female varies. A lot has to do with culture. Rape is a crime. Unfortunately, flirting is often viewed as sexual harassment.

Men don't stop having sexual urges when they join the military. Long periods of absense from home has always been a problem. To suggest that sexual urges do not exist when men and women are in close contact is being blind to reality. There is no easy solution and each person is responsible for their actions.

Maybe women should be kept away from the men. That way there would not be a problem.

The women could have their own army. A special force of women.

Abe said:

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To suggest that sexual urges do not exist when men and women are in close contact is being blind to reality.

Rape is not about sexual urges. Rape is an ultimate form of violence. It is not about attraction, but about power and control. The same is true of sexual harassment in general.

The attraction between men and women who work in the same surroundings is a different issue.

Ann