Women at War: BBC goes indepth

The BBC has been running a series regarding the experience of women in combat this week. In the this piece the BBC attacked the problem of sexual assault in the U.S. military. It largely recalls the details of the ongoing problem but its also covers the harrowing story of soldier who faced courts martial if she reported the crime that occurred against her because she did not have here weapon with her during assault which is mandatory in a combat zone. This blame the victim mentality apparently is even common amongst women according according to a new study that that surveyed more than 1000 women in the U.K. and found that 20 percent of those surveyed blamed the victim for the assault if she had done something to precipitate it. It seems that many people including women have a lot to learn about sexual assault.

Learning No Lessons regarding the Psychological Health of Soldiers

A piece in Time Magazine this week details how the military disregarded signs of mental illness in several soldiers before the Fort Hood incident who went on to commit murder including Pfc. Steven Green. Green, you may recall, took part in one of the most infamous incidents of violence in the Iraq War when he and four other soldiers raped and murdered a 14 year old Iraqi girl. During a psychological examination Green stated that he had no hobbies "Other than killing Iraqis". One of Green's fellow soldiers, James Baker illuminated his own attitude at sentencing. The entire incident in outlined in the partially fictionalized Brian De Palma film Redacted.