by Liz Klimas
A Green Beret (click here) is set to be “involuntarily discharged” from the U.S. Army on November 1 and the reason why, some say, is “troubling.”
Sgt. First Class Charles Martland, according to a letter sent from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, hit an Afghan Local Police Commander in 2011 after he allegedly raped a boy and beat his mother for telling the U.S. military.
“To intervene was a moral decision, and SFC Martland and his Special Forces team felt they had no choice but to respond,” Hunter wrote in the letter addressed to Carter on August 18, published by Fox News in an exclusive report....
First, Sgt. Martland should be holding open press conferences rather than huddling with the right wing media.
Additionally, Sgt. Martland needs to be specific in the ways the USA military is treating him unfairly. I know there is a great deal of support at FOX and Megan Kelly stated she understood there is a difference in culture, but, this is us on our own bases.
That is exactly what is wrong with nation building. We'll never change anything in Afghanistan when it comes to a culture that belongs in the Stone Age.
Sgt. Martland has a point, however, that means the gates to US bases are closed to all Afghan people. If that is what is necessary then we definitely don't have a reason to be in Afghanistan. I thought the USA was training the Afghan military these past 14 years. It is difficult to train Afghans if the gates are closed.
But, the idea Duncan Hunter can come on the news and simply rant about how unfair life is, is a bit of a joke isn't it? If he really wants to help Sgt. Martland he can do it without exploiting the man for political gains. Rep. Hunter should seek a different assignment for the Sargent where he cannot be offended by the cultural practices in Afghanistan. I think a US service man can find offense in some practices and if they are unable to 'buck up' and get on with their day, then they are simply causing problems and should be sent to a different assignment.
September 21, 2015
By Edwin Mora
The American command (click here) in Afghanistan has told U.S. service members to ignore child rape by Afghan soldiers and police officers, reports The New York Times (NYT).
“Generally, allegations of child sexual abuse by Afghan military or police personnel would be a matter of domestic Afghan criminal law,” Col. Brian Tribus, the spokesman for the American command in Afghanistan, told The Times via email, adding that “there would be no express requirement that U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan report it.”
Col. Tribus said an exception is when child sexual abuse is being used as a weapon of war.
“The American policy of nonintervention is intended to maintain good relations with the Afghan police and militia units the United States has trained to fight the Taliban,” reports NYT. “It also reflects a reluctance to impose cultural values in a country where pederasty is rife, particularly among powerful men, for whom being surrounded by young teenagers can be a mark of social status.”...
