Military Rape Back in Headlines
Services Increasingly Appearing as Broken Institutions

Military sex and violence will not go away.

Woman serving in US military during a severe sandstorm at Balad, Iraq - the base where LaVeena Johnson served, was raped and murdered, only to have her death deemed a 'suicide'. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(SALEM) - A new documentary examining military rape has taken this political football and kicked it right into full public view. It is an ugly, detestable problem that the military in all of its diverse programs and mechanisms has never come to terms with.

LaVeena Johnson at Balad in Iraq.

Through our reports, we have revealed terrible cases like the story of LaVeena Johnson, the daughter of a physician, who was raped and murdered in Iraq, her body even set on fire... Her case was deemed a 'suicide' and still is. Her battered body was horrifically savaged and the military embarrassed itself with this one in the worst way, everyone should know about it. Watch the video below for the heart wrenching story from her family and let the anger drive you into action if you are not already!

This story alone proves the impossibility of any real integrity in the Army today, it just doesn't exist. Take your pomp and circumstance to Arlington; our society is blinded by lies that portray the illusion of brilliance within our ranks. It exists here and there, and that is as good as it gets.

In the end, the military is little more than just another male dominated sport. However, women and minorities in the US have made incredible achievements and proven (as if they should ever have had to) conclusively, that white men are not the only people capable of serving in uniform with a high degree of skill and accomplishment.

Even so, women continue to be abused and it is not because they lack anything except support. If the military had any real notion of how to resolve this problem, it still probably wouldn't take the required steps, since that would cut too many people out of what they consciously or sub-consciously want- those victims and future victims.

... it is a difficult subject that is certainly not going away. We have repeatedly addressed this depressing scenario and now that the NY Times has published Heroes, Villains and the Invisible, their article about military rape, the cat is quite literally out of the bag.

This is an excerpt from that article:

It hardly needs to be said that any armed force has the potential for internal as well as external violence. But “The Invisible War,” Kirby Dick’s incendiary documentary about the epidemic of rape within the United States military, is a shocking and infuriating indictment of widespread sexual attacks on women. Such behavior, the film argues, is tacitly condoned and routinely covered up; the victims are often blamed and their reputations destroyed.

This unsettling exposé, which won the audience award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, may be the most outraged film in the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, which opened on Thursday and continues at the Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center through June 28. It is likely to fuel a growing perception of the military as a broken institution, stretched beyond its limits and steeped in a belligerent, hypermasculine mystique that has gone unchecked.

Last week the Pentagon reported that there had been 154 suicides among active-duty troops this year, a rate of nearly one a day. The rate is higher than that of military fatalities in Afghanistan, and it is another sign of incipient breakdown.
- Heroes, Villains and the Invisible -NY Times CRITIC NOTEBOOK

The NY Times article explains that “The Invisible War” is one of three festival films this year that are devoted to women’s rights. This subject can not possibly receive enough attention because it may be your daughter, friend, wife or mother who has to endure this archaic system of abuse. There is too much denial from media pundits like Liz Trotta who coined the term, of women having "been raped enough". It is a political issue of left and right as much as anything else, and the right could not be more wrong.

We have an expert in the house when it comes to this subject, that is our esteemed writer, Dr. Phillip Leveque. He is a WWII Combat Veteran who served his country with valor, and then went on to become a Professor of Pharmacology, a Forensic Toxicologist, and an Osteopathic Physician. The reason he knows about military trauma, is tied to the fact that he has suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) ever since his service in Europe as a Combat Infantryman. The following two stories are specifically about military rape, by Dr. Leveque.

(First published May-16-2011)

Military Rape: (SOP) Standard Operating Procedure
Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com

Do women join the military to be raped?

(MOLALLA) I have written about this before: Military Rape: SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) Not our Boys for Salem-news.com. The most recent article to come to my attention is The Christian Science Monitor with the title: Military’s Unseen Foe: Sexual Assault.

I won’t repeat the raunchy statement by Old Blood and Guts General Patton, which is too crude and gross to repeat here, about what a fighting soldier should be.

The Monitor states that about one in five women in the military will suffer sexual assault – usually from a superior but which is rarely reported for fear of vengeful consequences. The actual assault rate may be much higher for the same reasons. Officers up to General and Admiral have been accused. Who will discipline them?

The article quoted General Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, as saying: “This crime threatens our people, and for that reason alone it is intolerable and incompatible with who and what we are.”

There is Congressional legislation to address this and encourage victims to come forward. Some few have. Very few of military attackers face justice but about 40% of civilians do.

In the military sexual assault complaints are presumed confidential but CAN BE subpoenaed which can have adverse effects for the victims but protect the assailants!

The SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE COORDINATORS (SARCs) seem to be involved in the cover ups by asking accusingly “Where was your weapon”. Another point is that the rape defendants are given an attorney but the victims are not.

In one case the rape victim was married but she was told she could be charged with adultery!

Some of these women have recently appeared before Congressional committees. I have heard some of their testimony. It is too graphic and crude to print here.

Some of this stuff makes me hesitant and even ashamed to say I was in the Army Infantry even though I believe/hope most of these assaults/rapes were by the “Rear eschelon SOBs”. However I do know that about 50 or so of American soldiers were shot for rape in WWII.

Will Congress do something about it? Probably not, members of that group have been charged with sexual assault.

THE DUTY OF MEN IS TO PROTECT THEIR WOMEN!!!

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may162011/military-rape-pl.php

(First published Oct-16-2008)

Military Rape: S O P (Standard Operating Procedure)
NOT OUR BOYS!
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - On Sunday, October 12th in the Oregonian was an excellent but disturbing story on this subject. The main story was about an 18-year old male Marine raped by his Staff Sergeant. I was surprised to see this on the front page of the Oregonian but NOT surprised of its factuality.

Concurrent stories were of female military with a rape rate of one in three being raped. This doesn’t surprise me either after being a private in the Army subject to arrogant and obnoxious subjugation by anyone who had stripes or brass on their shoulders. Military service is a form of slavery with no rights at the bottom of the food chain. The power of non-coms and brass can be obscene and the statement “rank has its privileges” can often be really perverse.

To confirm my feelings, I punched up Military Rape on my computer. If you want to feel your skin creep and chills go down your spine –- punch it up. It is nauseatingly sickening.

The Oregonian states that Senator Patty Murray of Washington is trying to get a bill in Congress to provide VA therapy for the thousands of female and male victims of rape and similar sexual harassment in the services. NO LUCK YET. It’s against the national interest to admit that military rape is an epidemic going from the bottom ranks up to generals. Well “rank does have its privileges” including rape.

My own experience on this subject goes to World War Two. I was a survivor of General Patton's Third Army. He said he expected rapes when we were in North Africa and one of his most (in)famous quotes [I’m cleaning this up] “a soldier who won’t f*#k won’t fight”. (see: Independent.co.uk article Panther Soup, by John Gimlette)

Retired Air Force Captain Dorothy H. Mackey, who is also an ordained church minister and who was herself raped by her Colonel and Lt. Colonel superiors, has written and posted an almost unbelievable article on this subject. Her organization STAAAMP knows of over 40 U.S. Generals, Admirals and Colonels who have been given immunity by U.S. Courts for serious criminal sexual behavior. (see: refusingtokill.net)

The Pentagon ordered Lt. Colonel Charles P. McDowell, a Military Criminal Investigator, to prepare a checklist of 57 trial questions to rape victims to damage and/or belittle rape victims trial testimony. In the meantime, the Pentagon has contrived five immunity laws with the U.S. Justice Department to protect military rapists.

In the meantime rapes of both military males and females are going on and usually the victims are killed and the death is called suicide. (see: Alex Constantine's blacklist)

It is of morbid interest to report that rape by U.S. soldiers goes back at least to General George Washington’s army in 1780. Thomas Brown was sentenced to death for rape.

Rape of conquered women goes back to pre-history. Females were part of the spoils of victory. The British Army had a prohibition of rape in 1385 but I don’t think it made much difference.

With the U.S. Army in France in 1944, 70 Army soldiers were convicted of rape and shot. This is really strange because most women in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, etc could be had for a chocolate bar or a five cent pack of cigarettes. Never-the-less possibly 10,000 women in Europe may have been raped by American soldiers. Hard to believe? NO PROSECUTIONS!

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october162008/doc_rape_10-15-08.php

PFC LaVena Johnson: 'The Silent Truth'

Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole".
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier

If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.

Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com:
Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

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Tim King in 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from The Associated Press the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, Electronic Media Association and The Red Cross In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005.

Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 20+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide with an emphasis on Palestine and Sri Lanka, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the U.S. Marines. You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com. Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)

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Josh Akers August 29, 2012 2:19 pm (Pacific time)

There can't be honor in a military like this. rapes and suicides being more prevelant than combat deaths... What the hell is wrong with the people in this country...

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