DoD defends sexual assault policies

The National Security Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on sexual assault in the military. The hearing sought to ensure that that the Department of Defense has adequate policies and oversight mechanisms in place to prevent, treat and punish sexual assaults.

The DoD established the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) after a similar Congressional hearing in 2004, and the director of the organization was subpoenaed to speak today. Michael Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary for defense from the DoD was present at the hearing, however the director of the SAPRO did not show up. Chairman Waxman and other members of the subcommittee chastised Dominguez and the DoD for disregarding Congressional subpoena and asked Dominguez what the DoD is trying to hide by not allowing the Director of the office in question testify. Waxman then dismissed the DoD officials from the hearing, without allowing them to testify, in light of their inappropriate actions.

41 percent of female veterans seen by military doctors say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military and 29 percent reported being raped during their military service, said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Cali.). According to Department of Defense reports, in 2006 2,947 sexual assaults were reported, 73 percent more than in 2004. Since the creation of the SAPRO, the DoD has initiated training and improved reporting of rapes and sexual assaults but has inexplicably failed to track prosecution rates or how victims are faring within the military service, Harman said.

“Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq,” Harman said.

Harman is introducing legislation calling on the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to end assault and rape in the military, to encourage and increase investigations and prosecutions.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) reintroduced the Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act, which acts to bring military laws up to par with civilian laws in the cases of sexual assault. The DoD must do more to ensure that American civilians serving in Iraq and Afghanistan receive the same protections as service members, she said.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell effects military cohesiveness

"I may be straight, but not narrow" said Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) at a heated review of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy before the House Armed Services Committee, Military Personnel Subcommittee. This was the first time in 15 years that the policy had been revisited since its creation in 1993.

Retired Marine Corps. Staff Sgt. and first wounded soldier during the Iraq War Eric Alva, stated that trust was the most important bond he shared with his fellow soldiers, and that when he admitted to them that he was gay, trust and cohesion in the group only strengthened.

Joan Darrah, a retired Navy Captain, echoed Alva's sentiments, saying that she was constantly forced to live a double life while serving. After leaving a room in the Pentagon that was destoryed only minutes later on the morning of 9/11, Darrah realized that her partner of 11 years would have been the last to know, had she been killed. Due to the policy, she said that she was very secretive about her life as a lesbian, not even listing her partner as an emergency contact. In addition, Darrah said that the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy actually hurts troop cohesion by mandating the immediate removal of soldiers who are found to be gay.

Brian Jones, a former Army Special Operations and current business owner and Chief Financial Officer defended Don't Ask Don't Tell by saying that certain military situations require a closeness that could be uncomfortable for heterosexual soldiers, pointing to communal showers and even the need to huddle together for warmth, which he stated can result in the sexual arousal of gay soldiers.

Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness said that by removing the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, heterosexual soldiers would be pushed into a situation she called "forced cohabitation". She also stated that by allowing openly gay soliders to fight alongside straight soldiers, the government would be putting an unfair burden on Americans with religious convictions.

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), a member of congress who has served in the US military, exressed sharp criticism of Donnelly for remarks that he said implied that the US Army was not professional enough to to work alongside gay soldiers.

Maybe Afghanistan needs a police academy

The Afghanistan military force is doing well for a young army, according to commander of the Combined Security transition command - Afghanistan (CSTCA) Major General Robert W. Cone.

Cone discussed some of the progress made by CSTCA in Afghanistan. According to Cone, CSTCA’s goal is to organize, train, equip and employ security forces to defeat insurgencies. He said that increasing the rule of law and gaining internal security will lay the foundation for economic stability. Cone said that CSTA accomplishes this through embedded training teams, police mentor teams and operational mentor liaison teams to teach, equip and mentor the Afghan army and community.

When asked how many Americans were under his command, Cone said that in CSTCA there are 3,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. Cone acknowledged the increased attacks in Afghanistan and noted that the Afghan army has stepped up to address that problem. According to Cone, half of the forces dealing with the attacks are Afghan military forces. Cone pointed out that the Afghan military forces also lead 66 percent of operations which he said was impressive for such a young army. Military forces improve at combat by participating and the Afghan military ‘learns by doing,’ according to Cone.

Cone addressed the fact that Afghan police are several years behind the army in terms of development. Cone said changes such as pay reform and rank reform are required to ensure greater accountability. CSTCA is currently short of 2,300 NATO police trainers but Cone also noted that countries such as the U.K. and Canada are contributing police trainers. Cone emphasized that he is ‘very optimistic’ of the future of Afghan security and said that he believes the Afghans in the army and police force are patriots.

Iranian trained special militias are biggest threat to Iraq

From the beginning, we have been a team, and our mission is to get rid of all the militias and all insurgents in Iraq, Major General Ali Salih Farhood Oothman, Commander of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, said through an interpreter during a live-via-satellite Pentagon press briefing from Camp Victory in Baghdad. Oothman, head of a division that covers 24% of Iraq consisting of five Iraqi provinces including the Iranian border and Saudi Arabian border, said that his responsibilities in the area are complex because of al-Qaida. However, al-Qaida is not his greatest threat.

The greatest threat according to Oothman is the special militias. In his area of operation, he has both al-Qaida and special militias. In the capital cities of the provinces, he says, there are the militias. The reason for the higher threat level, is that the special groups are trained and equipped by the Iranians. Those groups don’t face you, he said, they use IEDs (improvised explosive devices), or they “stab us in the back” with their politicians. Because the militias are not able to face the Iraqi Army directly, they go to Iran, where they are trained, equipped, and then sent back in to assassinate leaders.

Present as well was Army Major General Michael Oates, Commander of the Multi-National Division Center and the 10th Mountain Division. He agreed with Oothman’s assessment of the Iraq Army’s capabilities, stating that the Army, although much improved and better off than in 2006, demonstrates that there is a need to raise the comparable level of operations that they are responsible for. Four things, Oates said, are needed: we need to work on improving their [Iraqi Army] forces, civics courses need to be given to learn how to assess Iraq’s civilian needs, we need to go after AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq), and we need to reduce the Iranian influence within Iraq.

The topic brought up most frequently during the brief was the inadequate training and supplies. Oates pointed out that the Iraqi Army has been fighting “right out of the box” since the beginning, and was never able to be properly trained. Watching their [Iraqi] army operate, Oates said, he sees that they are very capable and they are seeking initiative in performing their own operations, but we [United States] still are providing valuable assistance. The Iraqi Army is “coming along” but they are not sophisticated with reconnaissance and surveillance. Professionalism is what is missing; the army went into combat with no training, they’ve been in constant combat since 2003, and it’s been tough for them to learn logistics.

Oothman said that since the beginning, they had to work to train their officers. They conducted several training services for their officers, and they send medics to learn some training and they are more professional than they used to be. But to be independent in this battle, Oothman said, we have to not only learn administrative and logistical duties, but we need something else: medical facilities and garages to maintain our vehicles. 80% of these needs are met by coalition forces, and there is currently no plan to build a hospital or a garage.

The Iraqi Army is showing initiative, Oates said, I’m proud to serve with them and I’m here to provide whatever assistance I can. They are making huge strides. We [the United States] should be proud of our soldiers, and they are performing magnificently.

Islamist extremism finds strength in a global community

In a full Senate committee hearing on “The Roots of Violent Islamist Extremism and Efforts to Counter it,” witnesses spoke about where violent Islamist extremism begins and what steps the United States should take to maintain strong national security.

Maajid Nawaz, director of the Quilliam Foundation and former member of the Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), spoke about the ways to differentiate between Islam and Islamists. He said that Islamists believe Islam is a political ideology not a religion, that the religious code must become state law, the members identify with a global Islam community as a political community not a religious community, and that the ideology needs to be represented by a block, an expansionist state that must reach non-Islamist states and liberate them from communism or capitalism.

Nawaz spoke about how as a confused youth, struggling to find his identity he turned to the HT and was given a ideology and was connected to a global community. He said this was a common occurrence among third generation Muslims who have grown up in countries and then struggle to find themselves and could happen in the U.S. The danger with HT and other Islamist groups is that they connect local conflicts to a global level and restructures those conflicts to a fight between truth and falsehood, Islam against everything else, and could lead members to violent extremism, he said.

Peter Mandaville, associate professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University, gave several ways that violent Islamist extremism begins: there is a universal approach to religion which drops cultural values making it portable and easily decontextualized, it also targets those newly introduced to the religion or youths suffering from an identity crisis, and provides a sense of identity and framework which greatly affects “easily influenced young people trying to find their way in the world.” Mandaville said that while HT has ranks of passive members, the worldview it espouses could easily lead members to military action.

Zeyno Baran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, cautioned U.S. government agencies to know everything about Islamist organizations before bestowing them legitimacy as “moderate” Muslims. FBI agents have been trained by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was an organization connected with Islamist extreme organizations and is completely self-defeating, she said. Baran urged the United States to engage in countering Islamist ideology from spreading in the United States.