Thanks again, W.
Why should the military leadership's current vows that sexual assault will not be tolerated be taken seriously even though military sexual assault remains high—and
despite similar vows being made in the past? Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey had an interesting answer to that question from Sen. Joe Manchin:
“I think what happened in the 1990s is that we focused on victim protection. We immediately focused our attention on victim protection. Versus prevention. And then, as we reflected on it, we entered this period of 12 years of conflict. And frankly—I’ll speak for myself—I took my eye off the ball in the command that I have.”
We already knew that George W. Bush's wars cost untold lives and strained the federal budget. Add disrupting progress at combating military sexual assault just at the time the military swelled to that toll.
At the same time, if combating sexual assault is really a priority—something everyone at the hearing repeatedly insisted it is—then it shouldn't be a ball you take your eye off of. So we learned a little there about the limits on how much leadership really focuses on this.