Tag: us military

Massacre Puts War Trauma in Spotlight

A U.S. soldier shot five of his colleagues dead at a base in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. The Pentagon says at least two other people were hurt in the shootings, and the gunman is in custody. Details are still coming in, but the incident reportedly happened at a stress clinic where troops get help for personal … Continue reading “Massacre Puts War Trauma in Spotlight”

Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in Military

Sexual assault of women serving in the U.S. military, while brought to light in recent reports, has a long tradition in that institution. Women in America were first allowed into the military during the Revolutionary War in 1775, and their travails are as old. Maricela Guzman served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 as … Continue reading “Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in Military”

DOD Can’t Handle the Truth?

At the height of the Cold War, a U.S. Army corps commander in Europe asked for information on his Soviet opposite, the commander of the corps facing him across the inter-German border. All the U.S. intelligence agencies, working with classified material, came up with very little. He then took his question to Chris Donnelly, who … Continue reading “DOD Can’t Handle the Truth?”

The Wrong Argument Over Torture

The calls currently heard for an independent commission to investigate America’s use of torture in George Bush’s war on terror usually argue that a congressional investigation, or a straightforward criminal investigation under the authority of the Department of Justice, would become so politicized, or be so widely subjected to partisan attack, as to be hopelessly … Continue reading “The Wrong Argument Over Torture”