Stains, Stains

Stains
by Cindy Sheehan

Yea, I know, I'm picking on Cindy again. Can't help myself - she's either totally clueless or in league with the status quo, or both.

SHEEHAN: "Today on the 6th anniversary of the opening of a black stain on the soul of America, Guantanamo Bay prison. I was going to write about the necessity of the base being closed and the prisoners charged, tried, or released, but another stain has been nagging at me today.

The hidden stain of female members of the military being abused by fellow soldiers, Marines, or sailors is one that is regularly ignored or glossed over by a corporate media that rejects all bad news stories from war zones and reports Pentagon propaganda like it is fact: until today, that is.

Pregnant, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach, who has been missing since she was reported missing by her mother on December 19th has been determined to have been murdered by the father of her child (another Marine) who she had reported for rape. The corporate media is all over this tragic story because they should report it and because Maria is a very pretty, white woman."

Then there are the often reported (in alternative news) claims that female troops die of dehydration in their sleep because in 120 degree weather they stop drinking water after 3:00 pm to avoid having to take a trip to the latrine at night: trips that too often ended in being sexually assaulted. According to former National Guard General, Janis Karpinski, the cause of these deaths were covered up with the knowledge and encouragement of General Ricardo Sanchez: who was NOT punished for his part in the stain of Abu Ghraib, but Ms. Karpinski was. Hmmm….

-------- Hmmm indeed. First of all, deduct 3 points from Cindy for the hackneyed dribble about a "black stain" on the soul of America - does that mean the soul of America is white? But give 2 points for acknowledging the Lauterbach atrocity being reported because she's a "pretty, white woman." (The Lauterbach family, however, may take those 2 points away as the "pretty white woman" phrase has become repetitious slop and shouldn't be used in the same paragraph with their tragedy.)

Secondly, the military females I have known (including a younger sister who served 15 years in an Army MASH unit and a daughter-in-law on active duty) do not report sexual harassment or assault being anymore prevalent in uniform than in civilian life, nor does my own personal experience. A beautiful elderly aunt of mine says we women are sexually harassed from ages 8 to 80 because males think about sex from ages 8 to 80.

Karpinski is surely the last person I would trust for information on latrine trips; her leftish conscience only recently appeared, after her ass was in an abu ghraib sling (along with Sanchez).

Thirdly, the stats on all female troops who have died in Iraq do not support the dehydration claims made in "alternative news" stories. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count appears legitimate and of the 100 female casualties 2 are listed as non-hostile/illness without full explanation. Ten others are listed as non-hostile and not specifying if accident or illness or suicide; if you click on the troop's name all but a couple have further explanation, one struck by a vehicle, others were serving in Bahrain or Kuwait, another killed in an MVA. I'd have to stretch hard to find even 2 non-hostile deaths that could potentially be due to dehydration, or could be cholera or anything else. But since Cindy, Truthout, Alternet, etc. have resources they could verify the exact cause of those two - were they dehydration or natural or accident.

And excuse me, but the females I know, self included, would have rigged something to squat over if they feared latrines that much and then raised hell to a superior. Ya really think women soldiers are not trained about the risks of dehydration? Ya really think none of the males in a woman's unit would look to her well-being? I'm not saying assaults do not happen - but death by dehydration for fear of peeing in the night is a big lie.

This death by dehydration propaganda appears to come from some of my favorite phony truth sites Truthout, Alternet, and others, and taken from an interview given to Marjorie Cohn, a law professor, in which Janis Karpinski claims a "medical doctor had briefed her and other military colleagues about female soldiers in Iraq dying of dehydration because they refuse to drink water in the afternoon due to fear of using the latrines at night as they might be sexually assaulted or raped."

Dehydration does not occur in one afternoon and if the ladies are drinking water until 3 p.m. they wouldn't die in their sleep from dehydration. Karpinski's testimony is based on one unnamed medical doctor who has not come forward to corroborate her story and Karpinski claims amnesia - she can't remember the doctor's name.

Here's the real "stains" on America's soul: The "progressive/left" are lying propagandists performing for their 2 digit IQ base, just like the "conservative/right" - and no one knows anything about stain removal.