Faith-based News for Extra-TerrestrialsWOMEN U.S. SOLDIERS DIED FROM DEHYDRATION DUE TO FEAR OF RAPE -- COVERED UP
TRUTHOUT:
..In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior US military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq.Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women's latrine after dark.
The latrine for female soldiers at Camp Victory wasn't located near their barracks, so they had to go outside if they needed to use the bathroom. "There were no lights near any of their facilities, so women were doubly easy targets in the dark of the night," Karpinski told retired US Army Col. David Hackworth.. .[*]
You'll recall that Col. Karpinski was the highest officer forced to take the blame for Aby Ghraib, despite the fact that clear directives led all the way back to the White House. Now she has nothing to lose and is blowing the whistle on what she saw.
Can you believe that not one major media outlet has reported on a scandal far more serious than the Tailhook scandal that shook the Air Force in the 1990s? Well, that's the difference between a peaceful democracy and a wartime fascist regime.
Comments
Tailhook was Navy problem. I find this hard to believe.
Posted by: JI mSpencer | February 9, 2006 10:22 AM
I stand corrected on Tailhook, (There was a whole separate scandalat the AF academy (http://www.refusingtokill.net/rape/sexabuseatusairforceacadem.htm) but if you find this hard to believe you are not only calling her a liar but ignoring over a thousand documented rapes that occur in the military every year.
see: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Violence_againast_female_061604.htm
Posted by: cosmici | February 9, 2006 04:25 PM
Karpinski lied in the early days of the investigation, claiming that things were fine, to try to protect her career. Why should we believe her now, particularly when she presents no evidence of her outrageous claims, won't give the names so her story can be checked, she wasn't under oath, there is a significant amount of contrary evidence, nobody else has reported any such thing (including the hundreds of women who came back to the States after allegedly going through such an ordeal), and hiding this would require a coverup involving literally thousands of people - including the parents and husbands of the women who died!
Most tellingly, if her story was true, it would mean that she took no action when conditions under her control (location of toilets, patrols of areas within the facility, etc.) constituted a direct and proven danger to the personnel under her command!
The reason the mainstream press doesn't pick up on stories like this is that there isn't a story there.
Posted by: Mojo | February 9, 2006 04:54 PM
Right Mojo, the mainstream press ALWAYS picks up all the stories that have something behind them.
That's why they did such a great job on following up on the escape of Osama Bin Laden, the non-existent Iraq WMDs and the 2004 Ohio election fraud and so much more.
It's easy to see why someone might lie to protect their job just like Anita Hill did, but come forward later when they have less to risk.
Posted by: POIUYT | February 12, 2006 08:16 PM
POIUYT, I once saw an alien kill a bunch of (unnamed) people during the Super Bowl. Then the Carter administration covered it up. Remember, you have to believe me because, although there's absolutely no supporting information for my claims at all, the NY Times doesn't always cover every story as deeply as you'd like.
Posted by: Mojo | February 13, 2006 06:18 PM
Dude, I saw that too! Anyway, while we disagree on actually how credible Karpinski's testimony is, I think you'll have to conclude there is more than a remote possiblity that at least some US women troops were raped by male soldiers sometime, and that in a hot climate like Iraq where temperatures exceed 120 degrees in the summer, fear of rape leading to improper hydration practices could be dangerous and potentially fatal.
Posted by: POIUYT | February 13, 2006 08:52 PM