National Security

Grim Reading

By Mark Thompson | @MarkThompson_DC | March 24, 2011 | +

A woman alleged rape in federal court in Virginia earlier this week. Her complaint blames the Pentagon for turning a terrible event into a nightmare that continues today, nearly five years after the claimed assault. In its dry, legal prose, the document alleges just how poorly the U.S. military often handles these kinds of cases.

Related Topics: sexual assault, National Security

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  • Ivy_B

    the document alleges just how poorly the U.S. military often handles these kinds of cases.

    Well that’s certainly nuanced.

    I read the complaint and it is appalling, but nothing new if you read about how evidence is routinely handled. All that Madonna / slut attitude.

  • http://kate-sayin.blogspot.com Kate

    In its dry, legal prose, the document alleges just how poorly the U.S. military often handles these kinds of cases.

    And in one short paragraph the media shows how little they give a damn.

  • Ivy_B

    I did a Google search before I posted, thinking I could provide a quick statement of the facts that wouldn’t require people to read the whole complaint. I was shocked that there was nothing.
    .
    Emphasizing your point that the media doesn’t give a damn.

  • blueswede04

    It is, indeed, shocking. And it is shocking how little attention it gets. Kudos to MT, though, for posting this.

  • http://kate-sayin.blogspot.com Kate

    I’m kind of stuck in the “Long time listener, first time caller” position here, but I’ve got to ask you if you’re serious in giving him any kudos.

    People got tossed a bone with one paragraph. This is an issue that goes right into the heart of military readiness and morale, more than DADT will ever affect unit cohesion, and it gets a half-assed paragraph?

    It’s a bone, not journalism. Sorry, but that’s how I feel. I suppose we should feel grateful anything at all was posted here, but I’ve seen more informative tweets.

    Mr Thompson, I realize you probably had a lot of things to research and write up for deadlines today, but I gotta ask, do you think you did this story justice? Can you at least commit to a followup that’s got more information?

    Don’t treat this issue like another throw-away event in the news cycle, please.

  • blueswede04

    Kate,
    .
    OK, I may be guilty of a bit of relativism, and I agree with you that MT’s post could have been a lot more informative. But I also think that the exhaustive, depressing document in the link speaks for it self. I had not seen this mentioned anywhere else when I saw this post, so, yes, I appreciated that the post was here.
    .
    Believe me, the misogyny of the American military, and many other areas of American public life, is a bit of a culture shock. Sweden is not perfect in that regard, but there is more awareness, and honest attempts to address the problems. What I find the most striking is precisely how little attention this case has gotten. The small number of comments here, by a few women, is a point in case.

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