NEWS: Over 270 cases of sexual assault among US military deployed in Iraq

US service members reported over 270 cases of sexual assault among US troops deployed in the middle east, in a period ranging from August 2002 to December 2004. The victims of the assault are largely female US soldiers, which brings new light into the controversy of female military personnel in crisis regions.



Irresponsibe sexual behavior seems to be a growing problem among US troops stationed in Iraq. Along with disrespect for the Geneva Conventions, U.N. statutes, and human rights chartas, this paints a sobering image of the respect for moral values in U.S. society. These facts also bid to look deeper into the controversial issue of prostitution and human trafficking by U.S. troops and local criminals, like in Vietnam, where the U.S. occupation forces left around 400.000 vietnamese prostitutes, often brandmarked by plastic surgery or breast-growing pills to appeal more to U.S. beauty ideals.

[edit on 12-9-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

A lot of sexually frustrated men in US army. This happens frequently. I think "free booty" has become at least one reason to join. They should legislate a proposal for each solider to take a blow up doll and a sock to war

Please excuse my cynicism.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by Indigo_Child]

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
A lot of sexually frustrated men in US army. This happens frequently. I think "free booty" has become at least one reason to join. They should legislate a proposal for each solider to take a blow up doll and a sock to war

Please excuse my cynicism.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by Indigo_Child]

-Or nooter all enlisted men, perhaps, so they could concentrate on their mission.

Originally posted by Ulvetann
-Or nooter all enlisted men, perhaps, so they could concentrate on their mission.

There won't be too many volunteers to the US military then. Surgical neutering is irreversible I think.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by redhat]

[edit on 9-12-2004 by redhat]

Irresponsibe sexual behavior seems to be a growing problem among US troops stationed in Iraq. Along with disrespect for the Geneva Conventions, U.N. statutes, and human rights chartas, this paints a sobering image of the respect for moral values in U.S. society. These facts also bid to look deeper into the controversial issue of prostitution and human trafficking by U.S. troops and local criminals, like in Vietnam, where the U.S. occupation forces left around 400.000 vietnamese prostitutes, often brandmarked by plastic surgery or breast-growing pills to appeal more to U.S. beauty ideals.

[edit on 12-9-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

Right.....Blame it all on the United States. Everything bad is the world is the direct result of the United States. If Romanians have homeless children sleeping on the streets, its the problem of the United States. If Chechnya Rebels kill hundreds of people, its the United States problem. If Tibetan people suffer, its not because of China, its a result of United States and CHina is not at fault because China justs wants to be competitive. Ofcourse, the United States is the direct force of evil in this world.....Why doesn't the world wage a war against the United States? oh yeah....cause the world is a bunch of complaining wussies except for United States and some Arab Nations.

TheBigD,

Who else do we blame for the actions of US army men raping their own service women/men and civilians?

Yeah, who is going to wage war on America? America itself, mate. It's the fabled Atlantis of our time.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by Indigo_Child]

This is more common than you think. I remember watching a documentry about sexula assault in US training camps. They said that 1 in 5 women are sexualy abused while in training and that is only the reported cases. I am sure the same is true in other countries armed forces.

Bullying within British training camps is now a big issue on TV here as some recruits are being driven to suicide. Also quite a few recruits are found dead, killed by a bullet to the head in camp and it is not widely reported on TV.

Really, BigD, are you serious? Don't you know? Americans are experiencing the end of their age of innocence?

Are you unable to see and recognize the sins and evil acts of your parents? Every mature adult eventually grows out of that and becomes able to recognize the sins and evil committed by their parents as just that, sins and evil. Time to grow up my friend. Your uncle and daddy, Big Sam, ain't as perfect as you'd like to believe. In fact, the blemishes are downright disgusting and make me want to barf continually.

American horn dops raping their fellow female soldiers? You've got to be kidding about being the least bit surprised about that. When a man is injected into a situation where he is removed from his daily life, cut off from those he loves and who love him, with his life on the line on a daily basis, what do you expect form those whose moral boundaries are weak?

Sorry, blow up dolls and socks won't cut it it under those conditions. The ultimate escape is that momemnt of sexual union and bliss when all else in the external world seems to disappear momentarily. After all, those guys, and I'm sure many of those gals as well, are quite himan.

with the lack of moral boundaries deminstrated on a regular basis by our leaders, what fo you expect from the foot soldiers. They follow their example. Evil imitates evil. whether of the same kind or not.

By the way, what does the "D" in BigD stand for? I guessed it right, yes? I can't say it here for fear of censorship. But, it seems that your moniker indicates an understanding of where those guys are coming from (no pun intended).

To be clear, I don't condone the behavior where one person forces themselves upon another against the other's will. That is downright evil as well.

Some of the assailants were not American, as reported by the article. These assailants will be brought before a proper court and their guilt or innocence adjudicated.

The list of alleged assailants includes seven who have multiple victims, Miles said. Some of the alleged assaults were committed by Iraqi, Kuwait and Saudi Arabian nationals, and members of coalition military forces including Pakistan, Italy, Australia and Great Britain.

While this is unfortunate, it is by no means the only instance happening in this world of ours. For example, in the Sudan, it is rampant and uncontrolled, and the perpetrators will never be brought to justice, nor will the victims be given the treatment they require:

While African women in Darfur were being raped by the Janjaweed militiamen, Arab women stood nearby and sang for joy, according to an Amnesty International report published yesterday. The songs of the Hakama, or the "Janjaweed women" as the refugees call them, encouraged the atrocities committed by the militiamen.

www.blackchat.co.uk...

It would be great if we could get everyone to abide by the Geneva Convention, including the Janjaweed militiamen.

Originally posted by dubiousone
By the way, what does the "D" in BigD stand for? I guessed it right, yes? I can't say it here for fear of censorship. But, it seems that your moniker indicates an understanding of where those guys are coming from (no pun intended).

I think it depends on one's particular mindset. When I see BigD, I'm reminded of the song line "I'm going through the Big D and I don't mean Dallas".

Your mileage may vary.

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
TheBigD,

Who else do we blame for the actions of US army men raping their own service women/men and civilians?

Yeah, who is going to wage war on America? America itself, mate. It's the fabled Atlantis of our time.

[edit on 9-12-2004 by Indigo_Child]

" Along with disrespect for the Geneva Conventions, U.N. statutes, and human rights chartas, this paints a sobering image of the respect for moral values in U.S. society. These facts also bid to look deeper into the controversial issue of prostitution and human trafficking by U.S. troops and local criminals, like in Vietnam, where the U.S. occupation forces left around 400.000 vietnamese prostitutes, often brandmarked by plastic surgery or breast-growing pills to appeal more to U.S. beauty ideals. "

That part had nothing to do with the report, and that was what I was focusing on. Did we force the vietnamese women to do that? No, they're brothel owners did.

Originally posted by dubiousone
By the way, what does the "D" in BigD stand for? I guessed it right, yes? I can't say it here for fear of censorship. But, it seems that your moniker indicates an understanding of where those guys are coming from (no pun intended).

Don't assume, we all know what assume spells. TheBigD, the D is the initials in my first, middle, and last name, hence I call myself the TheBigD.

And I never said America was innocent, its just that we are evil when we stand up for ourselves and everyone seems to forget their own problems and join in the hatred towards. Although we are the biggest supplier of humanitarian aid, and we try to help the world, becuase we feel it is our responsibility as a super power. When Romania has homeless children sleeping in the streets we try to help, thats all im saying. All the good is wiped off the table when we do something bad. The GOOD outweighs the BAD at the end of the day.



[edit on 9-12-2004 by TheBigD]

No one wants to look at the shear numbers...
this makes your average woman soldier about 3 times as safe, as if they were walking thru central park at midnight Or thru Moscow on any night..
270 cases is an extremely small ratio of incidents per population of soldiers and other troops.. we have far more cases from our stateside cadet training courses...
think about the number of soldiers over there... LOTS... wasn't it like hundreds of thousands? and only 270 cases... if only it was that safe in AMERICA... or for that matter, in any country....
Russia, China, Australia, all can boast much higher numbers for rapes in their own countries... i will do some research to see how many thousands of cases they have and ratio it into the population...
ONLY 270 is something to be proud of believe it or not.... for it being a low number compared to civilian rape crimes.

Now... what they do with those assailants is another matter... nuetering is a good start... then jail, perhaps death penalty for the repeat offenders...
not a slap on the wrist like the military has dished out before... THAT IS THE REAL SCANDAL!

BigD, I have to agree. ASSUME does make an *** out of ....

The GOOD outweighs the BAD at the end of the day.

I disagree. The recipients of our GOOD deeds probably continue to see it as GOOD. However, those to whom we do BAD view it as BAD no matter how much GOOD we do elsewhere. If you ransack my home and punch holes through its walls in your quest to find bad guys, bulldoze homes, destroy my community's infrastructure, uproot my orchards, kill my extended family, rape my mother, wife, child, other relatives, or friends, or allow others to do that, and turn a blind eye to all this, I'm not likely to have warm fuzzy feelings toward you no matter how much GOOD you do elsewhere or on someone else's behalf.

You see, the GOOD we do is not weighed on the same scale as the BAD. These are not comparable acts where one offsets the other.

Those who do the GOOD are generally a different group of people and entities from those who are doing the BAD. When done by the very same people or entities, their good deeds still don't justify the bad.

In a criminal case in our justice system, it is not a defense against a criminal charge for doing bad to one person that you did good to someone else. The latter is not admissible at all, except at sentencing.

This isn't news. This is actually alot more common than you think.

But as has been stated, thats alot less than the civilian rape rate.

This is actually a drop in rapes since i was in. It was alot higher 10 years ago, it was really disturbing. We always locked our doors at night, but even that wasnt enough. Field exercises were a problem.

The sexual assault cases are basically from a lack of morale and discipline. It was the same when i was in, the Clinton admin and its policies, the drawdowns, morale and discipline were at a low.

I can see things have not changed. A demoralized and undisciplined ,military will do this.

Moku, quite getting all self righteous and anti american about this. Every war, every army, who has ever existed, has commited sex crimes and other crimes. Its a simple fact of life. The US is no different from any army in history, so stop acting like this is big astounding news.

Moku, quite getting all self righteous and anti american about this. Every war, every army, who has ever existed, has commited sex crimes and other crimes. Its a simple fact of life. The US is no different from any army in history, so stop acting like this is big astounding news.

Amen to that Skadi. Glad someone other then you and I caught the errors in this so called story.

Allow me to point out the nice tricky title he used to imply it was Iraq when it took place in other countries and thanks to additional information he left out that jsobecky posted.

"NEWS: Over 270 cases of sexual assault among US military deployed in Iraq"