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A Voice from Fly-Over Country
June 12, 2013
Sexual Assault: Scourge on the U.S. Military
by Robert L. Hale
fitzgerald griffin foundation
MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA — College graduations feature luminaries who address graduates going into the world; their speeches generally focus on words of wisdom. In our military academies this year, the addresses focused on pleas and warnings.
President Obama addressed the graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Both men had the same message sexual harassment and sexual assault must end.
America's leaders have immersed themselves in the sickness of "political correctness." This began with the gender integration of our military academies in the late 1970s.
In early May 2013, the U. S. Defense Department released a report on unwanted sexual contact in the military. It covered the range from groping to rape, as well as complaints about inappropriate comments and unwanted looks.
President Obama, Commander-in-Chief, said sexual assault threatened to erode trust and discipline in America's armed forces. Chuck Hagel called it a scourge. He added, "Sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal of sacred oaths and sacred trusts." He challenged the Cadets: "You will need to not just deal with these debilitating, insidious, and destructive forces, but rather you must be the generation of leaders that stops it."
If our leaders were endowed with even a modicum of common sense or a miniscule understanding of human nature, none of this would be necessary. Instead, America's leaders have immersed themselves in the sickness of "political correctness." This began with the gender integration of our military academies in the late 1970s. Some 20 years ago, Representative Patricia Schroeder (D-Colorado) launched an assault, challenging the military's position on women in combat and in such roles as submarine duty.
The initial assault found our leading military officers, as well as men at all levels of service, opposed to this integration. Proponents likened the integration to that of racial integration and chided opponents for being short-sighted, bigoted, and anti-women.
...our pornography-laced culture says anything goes; then when it does, the proponents of this culture whine about the results.
General Merrill A. McPeak, Air Force chief of staff in 1992, said, "I'm afraid that even though logic tells us that women can kill as well as men, I have a very traditional attitude about wives, mothers, and daughters being ordered to kill people."
Marine General Carl E. Mundy Jr., said, "Aviators and other elite military groups have a 'warrior spirit' derived from male bonding and a shared sense of risk and danger. That enthusiasm can be shared with women in the right assignments, but it is troublesome to tamper too much with that warrior spirit."
Integration of women into our military is now virtually universal in all roles and in all environments. This year, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus directed that women should become unrestricted line officers in submarines.
Under President Clinton, homosexuals and lesbians in the military were condoned under the now-abandoned "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Under President Obama, homosexuals and lesbians are free to act out and practice their sexual lifestyles in the military.
When we place men and women together in environments that challenge the fundamental distinctions in the nature of the two, we should not be surprised when negative consequences occur.
America has immersed itself in sexual freedom, pornography, and an emotionally free hook-up mentality. Women are as sexually aggressive as men, if not more so. Sexual harassment is inexcusable; however, at times, women claim to have been so victimized, yet it is later discovered that the charges are false. We live in a sexual role "Wonderland." On the one hand, our pornography-laced culture says anything goes; then when it does, the proponents of this culture whine about the results.
The irrationality of America's leaders is being pushed by political correctness at any cost. Today's America is functionally agnostic, secular, and lacking an adequate understanding of human nature. This mentality has widespread consequences that are shockingly obvious in our military.
When we place men and women together in environments that challenge the fundamental distinctions in the nature of the two, we should not be surprised when negative consequences occur. Just because politicians and social planners believe they should or can redesign the nature of the sexes does not mean they actually can.
The exploding sexual harassment issues in our military academies and military in general are a "scourge." Allowing social planners to continue imposing politically correct ideologies on our military has brought about the "scourge" that Defense Secretary Hagel bemoans. However, all the awareness programs, all the brainwashing, and all the lecturing will not resolve this growing problem.
Inappropriately mixing men and women — homosexual and heterosexual — and assigning roles that are contrary to the fundamental nature of the sexes are imprudent and result in harmful outcomes. We need to exercise common sense. We need to acknowledge the fundamental differences between men and women, and accept that not all sexual relationships are normal, let alone beneficial. These are the necessary first steps if we wish to eliminate this self-imposed scourge.A Voice from Fly-Over Country archives
A Voice from Fly-Over Country is copyright © 2013 by Robert L. Hale and the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation. All rights reserved.
Robert L. Hale received his J.D. in law from Gonzaga University Law School in Spokane, Washington. He is founder and director of a non-profit public interest law firm. For more than three decades he has been involved in drafting proposed laws and counseling elected officials in ways to remove burdensome and unnecessary rules and regulations.
See a complete biographical sketch.
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