womenvets

Wasn’t sure what to call this first post to WomenVets.today.com. My first post. My first impression. No pressure here. It was either: “Remember? Americans are fighting overseas” or “U.S. women soldiers more likely to be raped by a superior than killed by the enemy”

Both are equally important stories, and both intertwine. It seems Americans, over here in the U.S., are sick of hearing about the now-six-year Iraq War. It was reported by “mainstream media” that with all the other problems facing America and Americans, we are “tiring” of war news. At the last POTUS press conference, aired live, not one question was about the war(s). Remember, the war(s) where thousands of men and women from over here, are over there?

Over last weekend, thousands of people protested from Coast to Coast marking the six-year anniversary of the Iraq War. More than 10,000 marched in Washington, D.C. Did you hear about those protests from “mainstream media?”

On “60 Minutes” television program U.S. president Barack Obama was interviewed, and he made a comment that a year ago, the Iraq War would have likely been the most important topic on his leader-of-the-free-nation plate.  While Obama said he plans to keep campaign promises and end the U.S. occupation in the (illegal) war, he obviously has bigger fish to fry.

Being a veteran of the U.S. Navy, I am admittedly a bit more proactive than most of my friends in speaking about the war. Most people have “bigger fish to fry,” too, in their daily lives.

But the troops fighting for our country overseas are giving more than their fair share.

Thousands of National Guardsmen are pulling three, four tours of duty in Iraq, and now in Afghanistan, where more than 120,000 troops have reportedly joined the fray. The U.S. military announced the number of troops in Iraq will drop by 12,000 over the next six months.

There are 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Last month, Obama adjusted his timetable to 19 months after taking office - August 2010 - and said between 35,000 and 50,000 troops will remain to execute a drawdown plan. All U.S. forces are set to be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.

For the past six years, I’ve said Americans will not worry about the war until their sons and daughters are coming home in flag-draped coffins. (After a five-year ban from actually filming those coffins for public view, Obama repealed that Bush mistake.)

Another thing Americans are not talking about is the numbers – nearly a half-million – of troops coming home disabled because of brain injury or amputation.  (Don’t even get me started on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.)

Medical technology has advanced so much that more soldiers are coming home injured because their lives have been saved. Many will have to be cared for the rest of their lives by trained medical personnel.

At protests last weekend: “This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege,” said National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition Brian Becker.

“This is already one of the longest wars in American history. There’s nothing new in Iraq,” said Steven Roberts, a professor of media studies at George Washington University. “We’ve read the stories of instability in the government a hundred times. Every single possible story has been told, and so there is enormous fatigue about Iraq.”
 About $700 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, has been appropriated from the 2003-09 fiscal years. Taking into account operations for fiscal year 2010, the price tag is about $800 billion.

According to CNN’s count, as of March 12, 4,259 Americans have been killed in the war since it started March 19, 2003.

It also has been reported that female soldiers are more likely to be raped than killed by the “enemy” in the war zone.

Since a July 2008 hearing on sexual assaults in the military, the National Security and Foreign Affairs Congressional subcommittee heard testimony and admonished the head of the Department of Defense because the woman in charge of response and prevention failed to show at a subsequent hearing.

Michael Dominquez of the DOD said he instructed Dr. Kaye Wiley not to attend the Aug. 6 hearing, saying final responsibility rests on him. Wiley was director of SAPRO, the Sexual Assault and Prevention and Response Office.  (http://www.sapr.mil/, which has not responded to e-mails since the Bush Administration left office.

As a veteran of the U.S. Navy (1981-1986), I am appalled at the actions of fellow soldiers, who rape and/or assault a fellow solder (male or female). A survey said 30 percent of women in current hostile conditions are in some way sexually harassed.  These harassers are criminals and should be treated as such.

Honestly, though, I don’t know one woman personally who has not been assaulted by a man, verbally, physically, or emotionally over their lifetime. What a sad commentary. Don’t believe me? Ask the females in your life if they have experienced some sort of crime in their professional or personal lives.

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