"When you are over there, you are lower than dirt, you are expendable as a soldier in general, and as a woman, it's worse,"
Female Soldiers Treated 'Lower Than Dirt'
By Rose Aguilar, AlterNet. Posted July 14, 2006.
The case of Suzanne Swift reveals that women deployed in the Middle East are facing rape, abuse and sexual harassment -- from their own comrades-in-arms.
U.S. Army Specialist Suzanne Swift will spend her 22nd birthday tomorrow confined to the Fort Lewis base in Washington, where she is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into allegations that she was sexually harassed and assaulted by three sergeants in Iraq.
Swift says the sergeants propositioned her for sex shortly after arriving for her first tour of duty in February 2004. She remained in Iraq until February 2005. "When you are over there, you are lower than dirt, you are expendable as a soldier in general, and as a woman, it's worse," said Swift in a recent interview with the Guardian.
When Swift's unit redeployed to Iraq in January 2006, she refused to go and instead stayed with her mother in Eugene, Oregon. She was eventually listed as AWOL, arrested at her mother's home on June 11, sent to county jail, and transferred to Fort Lewis.
"She's miserable and isolated," says Sara Rich, Swift's mother. "It's not good to have an idle mind while you're dealing with PTSD and sexual trauma. I want them to release her so I can get her the care she needs. I'm tired of waiting."
A colonel outside of Swift's chain of command is investigating the case, but Rich says she has been given little information with no time frame. "I believe they're trying to break her down using fear and intimidation."
...more. alternet.org
in this quarter there is no doubt that soldiers sent "over there" did rape and murder a young girl at Haditha, torture burn and kill her family and anyone else they saw fit to die in that day. There is no democratisation going on "over there" only the breeding of more instability, the breeding of more suicide bombers, the breeding of more time bombs that will will come back to us as blowback. And not part of the law of intended consequences. You do reap what you sow. Some times surely, not always but these times we will get it back at us. If the rape pillaging and torture of our own female soldiers is going on, that may be reported on eventually by the women telling other woman, or their closest families. The soldiers doing the pillaging has small fear of being found out for crimes against their own. There is no reason to believe they fear any retribution for killing raping torturing murdering any of the civilian populations "over there" they are immune to the stench they cause all over themselves and spread it back onto us and they care even less. These are the soldiers I'm supposed to support/ this is a president "commander in chief' that I'm supposed to support? I think I'll refrain still from posting any outrageous stickers of support and will obey no flag for as long as these warriors are out and about on their deadly rounds....
By Rose Aguilar, AlterNet. Posted July 14, 2006.
The case of Suzanne Swift reveals that women deployed in the Middle East are facing rape, abuse and sexual harassment -- from their own comrades-in-arms.
U.S. Army Specialist Suzanne Swift will spend her 22nd birthday tomorrow confined to the Fort Lewis base in Washington, where she is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into allegations that she was sexually harassed and assaulted by three sergeants in Iraq.
Swift says the sergeants propositioned her for sex shortly after arriving for her first tour of duty in February 2004. She remained in Iraq until February 2005. "When you are over there, you are lower than dirt, you are expendable as a soldier in general, and as a woman, it's worse," said Swift in a recent interview with the Guardian.
When Swift's unit redeployed to Iraq in January 2006, she refused to go and instead stayed with her mother in Eugene, Oregon. She was eventually listed as AWOL, arrested at her mother's home on June 11, sent to county jail, and transferred to Fort Lewis.
"She's miserable and isolated," says Sara Rich, Swift's mother. "It's not good to have an idle mind while you're dealing with PTSD and sexual trauma. I want them to release her so I can get her the care she needs. I'm tired of waiting."
A colonel outside of Swift's chain of command is investigating the case, but Rich says she has been given little information with no time frame. "I believe they're trying to break her down using fear and intimidation."
...more. alternet.org
in this quarter there is no doubt that soldiers sent "over there" did rape and murder a young girl at Haditha, torture burn and kill her family and anyone else they saw fit to die in that day. There is no democratisation going on "over there" only the breeding of more instability, the breeding of more suicide bombers, the breeding of more time bombs that will will come back to us as blowback. And not part of the law of intended consequences. You do reap what you sow. Some times surely, not always but these times we will get it back at us. If the rape pillaging and torture of our own female soldiers is going on, that may be reported on eventually by the women telling other woman, or their closest families. The soldiers doing the pillaging has small fear of being found out for crimes against their own. There is no reason to believe they fear any retribution for killing raping torturing murdering any of the civilian populations "over there" they are immune to the stench they cause all over themselves and spread it back onto us and they care even less. These are the soldiers I'm supposed to support/ this is a president "commander in chief' that I'm supposed to support? I think I'll refrain still from posting any outrageous stickers of support and will obey no flag for as long as these warriors are out and about on their deadly rounds....
