Senator Martha McSally’s Revelation of Assault May Reopen Debate

What is missing is the role of the male culture that views women as objects to be used. A rape occurs when a male decides his urges are more important to satisfy than anything the object of his desire wants. Males are at least half of the problem but we never read of what is being done to change the male culture. All the dismissal arguments about how rape is a military weapon since armies were formed avoides the crucial issue of male "privilege" assumed by the males to exercise a weapon of war - rape. This "privilege" is carried into the greater society and we try to dismiss the act by all sorts of claims that denigrate the victim. We discredit the victim in order to avoid dealing with the issue. The male society will not be willing to correct itself because of the "privilege". I am a male and this is my view.

I would be interested in knowing how Senator McSally would change the military to eliminate sexual assaults. She has ruled out taking away the responsibility from the chain of command, so what would she propose? Personally, I think she's just fine with how things are now. How else can she justify her undying support for the abuser-in-chief, Trump?

I'm not doubting the Senator's claim. But I don't understand how an Air Force pilot, presumably in good physical condition, with some self-defense training, could not have at least caused some serious damage to her rapist - busting his nose, poking out an eye, deeply scratching his face - even though she might have been outweighed and out-muscled.

Years ago, a friend told me that when she was serving in the military she was raped and beaten by a superior officer. When she reported the attack, she was believed, but was told that should she persist in trying to have her attacker prosecuted, she would be dishonorably discharged and lose all of her veterans' benefits. To this day she still suffers from the effects of the attack and the treatment she received when she reported it.

I’m surprised that there are so few comments for this article. It’s an explosive allegation for an accomplished female. I have to agree with those who accused McSally of being partisan and tone-deaf regarding Blasey-Ford at the Kavanaugh hearings and on that final vote. But, at least she had the courage to put herself on the line now by speaking out.

One cannot understand a historical event without including context. If the rape occurred in a non-battle context it was an assault and should be prosecuted as such with the added penalty of it being committed by a superior. If it occurred under the stress of battle, there must be a penalty, but motive becomes a mitigating factor. Combining challenges to the male sex drive and the drive to avoid pain in the crucible of battle makes no biological sense. Identity politics is terribly out of step with nature on this issue.

Integrating women into armed forces operational units has opened opportunities personal opportunities for them to serve, expanded the pool of talent available to the military in a time of all-volunteer service and added substance to our egalitarian ideals. Those are good things. A downside is the explosion of incidents of sexual misconduct among the ranks. This was predictable, and it was predicted before the fact, although advocates for the new policies wouldn't hear of it. No one should be shocked that this has happened, especially not anyone who has experience of military life. The question is, what to do about it. This isn't a problem that can be addressed effectively through education, admonishment or punishment. There will need to be structural reforms.

Why should Ms. McSally be afforded the credence that she refused to extend to Christine Blasey Ford? During her Senate campaign last fall, she said the she would vote to confirm him. She expressed sympathy for Ms. Ford, but this sympathy did not extend to believing her accusation of attempted rape against Kavanaugh. Or perhaps she believed her, but didn't think that keeping an aspiring rapist off of the Supreme Court was sufficiently important to warrant upsetting the Trump voters she was counting on. Now that she is safely in the Senate, she is showing some genuine courage. It's too bad she couldn't show it last October.

The military, in every nation, has always raped. It's part of their weaponry. Maybe there are some historical allegations of celibate warriors, but not in modern days. Read your Bible. There are many stories of armies raping the women. Rape, and looting, is one of the rewards of battle. That's why our military generals include prostitution in the visiting forces agreements with foreign nations. Entire sex industries have been started by these agreements that have become an integral part of a country's national economy, like Thailand or the Philippines. It's called R&R. Where ever there is an American military base, prostitution follows. It's part of the military experience, especially in the Navy, for a recruit to get laid. I was not in the military but i did work for the DoD, NGA. Of course many people there were former military and many of them were quietly proud of their sexual exploits in foreign ports. They bragged about it. Shortly after I was hired, among a crowd of new employees, we, or those that chose to participate, were treated to an extended lunch break at a local, well known, strip joint. In later years some of us were invited to a vendor's convention in Las Vegas with a not so subtle hint, nudge, nudge, wink wink. I sabotaged that plan when I reported it to OPSEC. Ha! The reason military generals don't take sexual assault allegations seriously is because they have probably done it themselves as part of their initiation into their life long careers.

As with the Manafort sentencing yesterday, the case of Senator McSally's rape lays bare the unequal justice system in America. Manafort's case glaringly points to rich white men being treated with obsequious deference and leniency in our society. McSally's case and rape cases in society at large are treated as unimportant. Tens of thousands of rape kits sit on shelves unprocessed across America because women are treated as looked upon as second class citizens whose rights need not be acknowledged or protected. Sexual assault cases even of men and children then fall into the context of not mattering too. The recent revelations of the Epstein case in Florida plainly demonstrate the utter disregard for the victims of sexual assault. Today, these stark examples of justice denied by a system corrupt and contemptuous of the majority of our populace beg the question of what to do about this. So far the military has completely failed to address the issue so why give them a second chance to do nothing? Congress should take this on because the military can not, does not.

Can someone help me understand that Senator McSally did not support or believe Dr. Ford testimony. But now when she speaking out on her sexual assault, why shall we believe her? In either way, I believe that those who deliberately cover up sexual assault should be treated as criminals.

Many years ago a colleague of mine shared the sad story of how his daughter was sexually abused at the Air Force Academy and then harassed by Air Force authorites for reporting it. He had to smuggle her out of the academy in the trunk of his car out of fear of further physical attacks. Have they learned nothing? Are they incapable of change?

Absolute peak Irony, considering the occupant of the Oval Office, the Commander in Chief. Full stop.

McSally's concern about bringing a crime to a higher level is the same whether it's in the military, law enforcement, the boardroom or any where. There should always be an independent agent to bring a problem to, one that's not controlled by the good old boys because we've all seen how that works. Most of all we need to keep the conversation going.

I believe the senator should publicly name the officer who assaulted her.

Somehow I don’t think the woman who supports Trump 96% of the time is going to a be a champion for survivors’s right as, even if she is one.

This is an unacceptable situation of course.Power corrupts..etc. It would behoove Senator McSally to put actions into her words. Coupled with her amazing accomplishments and the office she holds she could fight some of the do nothing enablers who run the Republican Party. Will she or can she spark change? Stay tuned.

Reopen DEBATE? Why not reopen the CASE?

All that talk about "good order and discipline" invoked to keep members of the LGBT community out of the military services seems like pious blather further discrediting their leadership. Obviously, senior, including commanding officers, are not engaging in illicit and coercive sex, they are tolerating it in others. I say that convicted offenders COs should serve hard time and COs who are not the convicted offenders should be dishonorably discharged.

I want to thank Senator McSally for coming forward; she is very brave. I want to thank the writers of this article for bringing the data of assaults to our attention. It's shocking to see as many as 7,000 assaults in the military every year. It's not acceptable; at all. Our military should be just the opposite. It should do everything to protect all of it's soldiers. We've seen this in the past - I thought the problem was being addressed. It's clearly not. We need civilian intervention in the military - take it completely out of the military's control and put it in civilian courts and let the lawsuits begin. It will end sooner than later.