Only a few good men?

Sadly, that appears to be the case. My father served briefly in the Navy. I once had a very high opinion of men in the military, a perception that was supported by the fact that the men that I have been blessed to know, as family members and friends, are honourable and respectful of women. All women.

Thus it affronts me when thugs who have made a career in the military beat their chests and attempt to promote their own personal chauvinism and misogyny as the norm. My co-blogger Dr Dawg has recently written about such despicable specimens.

It pains me to report this, but the US military forces its female military personnel to pay the costs of forensic medical exam kits. Why? Could it be the 'exorbitant' expense?

In light of the disgusting shenanigans, comments and posts happening over at Dust My Broom, this comes as no surprise:

Women in the military are twice as likely to be raped as their civilian counterparts. In fact, "women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq," Congresswoman Jane Harman, D-Calif., told the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs in May.Harman said, "The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Health Center where I met female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military, and 29 percent said they were raped during their military service." ...

Cat-and-mouse games may sound like kid stuff, but refusing to pay for a rape kit is anything but. It implies that the victim is to blame. It does not encourage victims to come forward. And it makes it far more likely that soldiers will interpret the permissive climate as institutionally sanctioned misogyny.

Is this "supporting the troops"?