I came across this video at Talking Points Memo and was struck by the timing as well as the message that Australia's Army Chief, Lieutenant General David Morrison, delivered to the Australian Army:
I wish that, instead of fighting for the right of unit commanders to overturn a verdict, our military leaders had taken such a direct and honest approach to the subject.
But it made me think about the coincidence in timing. Apparently Australia is also having issues with sexual harassment within its ranks. During this brief speech, LtGen Morrison mentions that the Australian Army has served with distinction in Afghanistan.
For some reason that made me wonder if the long term exposure to sharia law has had some impact on our Western Armed Forces. Please follow where that stray thought has led me below the fold.
Our military has long struggled with sexual harassment, anyone else remember Tail Hook? But it seems lately that the numbers and the overturned verdicts and an almost silent consent by the higher ranks have allowed it to flourish. Or it may just be that we are hearing more about it.
But now we are hearing about it in Australia, another nation with troops in the land of sharia law.
In Afghanistan and throughout most of the Middle East, women are clearly second class citizens whose lives are defined by their tightly prescribed roles from which deviation is not allowed.
On May 13, 2013, Care 2 Make a Difference reported:
Late last week, the Afghan parliament failed to really even discuss the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law because – get this – it’s against Sharia law.
“This law is just a government project, it is against Sharia… we need to discuss more about this and remove articles that are against Islam,” Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a conservative MP from Parwan province, said.
So they don't discuss stopping violence against women because to do so would violate sharia law and be against Islam.
I can't help but wonder what type of impact this has on the male dominated power structure of our military. How long does it take before the mores of the occupied start to work on the attitudes of the the occupier? How long have we been there?
The next step in my mental journey was to consider that all of the hysterical Bible thumping anti-sharia law legislators need to re-focus their efforts. If sharia law is a bad thing, shouldn't they be demanding that our young men and women be pulled out of a part of the world where these laws might contaminate them?
Instead of worrying about an eventual American apocalypse brought on by the importation of Sharia Law into our society, shouldn't they move to prevent its insidious influence on the very young people who are growing to maturity surrounded by it?
Perhaps it is time to stop worrying about the introduction of sharia law into Oklahoma and start worrying about its unconscious adoption by our troops. Unless of course, they see violence against women and sexual harassment as something that is acceptable.
And I think I want to stop thinking here. Because the next step would be