Someone proclaimed that the military is no democracy. It only defends democracy.
The military must operate in a strict, disciplined manner to succeed in its mission, but it can follow our basic laws. In one situation, the military has repeatedly violated the Constitution at a heavy cost of skills and money by forcing out 3,660 service members because of their sexual orientation, and violated fundamental criminal laws by facilitating sexual abuse of more than a dozen current and former service members.
A federal class-action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, Feb. 15, by military veterans and active-duty service members who accuse the Department of Defense of permitting a military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault or respond properly to allegations of sexual abuse, according to The New York Times. Two men and 15 women who brought the suit are seeking monetary damages and changes in the military’s judicial system regarding these issues.
The suit claims that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest Congressionally mandated institutional reforms,” adding that they failed “to take reasonable steps to prevent plaintiffs from being repeatedly raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by federal military personnel.”
Plaintiffs recounted one rape case in Iraq and another in Korea.
Former Army Sgt. Myla Haider said at a Feb. 15 news conference: “It is an atmosphere of zero accountability in leadership, period…Soldiers in general who make any type of complaint in the military are subject to retaliation and have no means of defending themselves.”
Anvradha Bhagwati, a former Marine captain and executive director of the Service Women’s Action Center, urged that the new system to upgrade accountability and provide other means for filing complaints.
One element is fundamental. Rape or any form of sexual assault is a serious crime, punishable by long prison terms. Anyone in a position of authority who refuses to investigate an accusation or even protects the alleged abuser has also committed a crime.
Probably what should be done if a crime of sexual assault is alleged to have occurred on a stateside military base is refer the case to the local civilian prosecutor. Outside the United States, whether in Germany or Iraq, the alleged perpetrator could be flown back to the states and turned over to the local prosecutor in the county where their home base is located.
Nearly as shameful was the military’s drive to expel homosexuals from its ranks. The military was so aggressive that it spent $193.3 million to replace 3,660 troops under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law from fiscal 2004 to 2009, according to a federal audit reported in The Washington Post.
These figures are contained in a report released on Jan. 20, 2011, by the Government Accountability Office that was requested by Rep. Susan Davis, a California Democrat, who last year chaired a House Armed Services panel on military personnel. She backed elimination of the law.
“Clearly this was the right thing to do,” said Davis in a statement. “No longer will American taxpayers continue to pay to throw out patriotic service members who want only to serve their country.”
This was understatement even for a decent, well-intentioned public servant. Disgraceful more aptly describes this activity.
Simultaneously, the very government that speaks for us violated the constitutional rights of 3,660 Americans and wasted $193.3 million of our tax revenues.
Where is it written that an American citizen cannot serve in the military because of their sexual orientation? They have every right to do so as long as they adhere to the rules and perform their duties to the best of their abilities.
I thought of how costly this must be a few years ago when I read about service members at a foreign-language school in Monterey, Calif., being discharged from the service. Bear in mind that we were paying for their education up to this point.
The GAO reported that recruiting and training replacement troops cost $185 million and administrative expenses amounted to $7.7 million. Each separation cost an average of $52,800.
The study noted that 39 percent of the discharged troops held infantry or security roles or had important foreign-language skills.
The Post article points out that the $193.3 million “is a fraction of the Pentagon’s more than $600 billion annual budget.”
That $193.3 million could plug many a city or school district deficit.
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