4 July, 2008 | Leave a Comment
It’s the 4th of July, but I don’t feel like celebrating. Right now I’m too ashamed to be an American.
I’ve been reading about the case of LaVena Johnson, which is making the rounds in the blogosphere and left-wing media. Who is LaVena Johnson? From Salon’s blog:
In July 2005, 19-year-old Johnson became the first female soldier from Missouri to die in Iraq. She was found with a broken nose, black eye and loose teeth, acid burns on her genitals, presumably to eliminate DNA evidence of rape, a trail of blood leading away from her tent and a bullet hole in her head. Unbelievably, that’s not the most horrifying part of the story. Here’s what is: Army investigators ruled her death a suicide.
This article by Ann Wright details much more extensively the injuries Johnson suffered and how it is impossible for her to have killed herself. Johnson’s death was initially ruled a homicide, then quickly changed to suicide. The case is closed. This young woman volunteered to serve in Iraq. In return, she was beaten, raped, mutilated, murdered and set on fire by other soldiers. Rather than bringing her killers to justice, her superiors and by extension the government of the United States is complicit in her rape and savage killing. Is this what America stands for? And to think, we’re in Iraq now to bring the people democracy and teach them how to be “civilized.”
LaVena Johnson’s mother told the New Zealand Herald: “My daughter, the way they took her and what they did to her - it’s inhuman. I did not believe my daughter was placed among a group of predators. They treated her like an animal … And she was fighting for this country.”
LaVena’s father is a doctor and an Army veteran. The NZ Herald article describes his reaction to receiving the coroner’s report: “When the coroner ruled her death a suicide and failed to include any of the physical trauma in his report, Dr. Johnson told him, ‘Somebody murdered my daughter and you picked the wrong person to fuck with.’ ”
See a news report and interview with the parents here.
Johnson’s family is working to get a congressional inquiry into her death. Sadly, this is not an isolated case. The Johnsons have been contacted by the families of ten other servicewomen in Iraq who also committed “suicide” and whose “suicides” share the common theme of rape. Ann Wright’s article, which is titled “Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?”, details many other cases of female soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan committing “suicide.” Where is the outrage? There doesn’t seem to be much and it’s not surprising, given that the mainstream media doesn’t cover these stories.
Female soldiers in the US military face the constant threat of sexual assault and rape. A recent op-ed in the NYT claims that one in three female soldiers is sexually assaulted or raped by fellow soldiers. From a Salon article on violence against women in the US military: “Spc. Mickiela Montoya, 21, who was in Iraq with the National Guard in 2005, took to carrying a knife with her at all times. ‘The knife wasn’t for the Iraqis. It was for the guys on my own side.’ ”
The salon article continues: “Last year, Col. Janis Karpinski caused a stir by publicly reporting that in 2003, three female soldiers had died of dehydration in Iraq, which can get up to 126 degrees in the summer, because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being raped by male soldiers if they walked to the latrines after dark.”
This is the kind of thing most Americans don’t want to know about. They don’t want to know about the rapes and murders committed by American soldiers and the culture of violence and misogyny in the military that allows such behavior and then covers it up afterwards. I doubt we’ll hear Obama and McCain addressing these issues on the campaign trail. I doubt either of them will champion the case of LaVena Johnson. After all, they’re already fighting about who’s the most patriotic and so they can’t afford to make any comments that are critical of the military. In American culture, being patriotic and loving one’s country means turning a blind eye to the evils committed in one’s name.
A blog has been set up to track progress in the case of LaVena Johnson. It also includes the names and addresses of congresspersons on the Armed Services Committee.
Anglofille said @ 4:03 pm | feminism |
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A powerful write-up Anglofille. I had heard about this case, though as a minor story on BBC news. It is beyond comprehensible, and what makes things worse is that it is considered unpatriotic to criticise both British and American forces, despite stories like this, despite abuse towards Iraqi civilians. It seems to me that the army recruits indiscriminately, and would prefer rapists and murder over homosexuals and women. What type of men are we sending out to fight our war (one that some of us don’t even consider legitimate)? I hope her parents crucify the people at the top who insult our intelligence by calling this a suicide.
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Cav Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 7:58 pmThank you so much for bringing this very disturbing information to my attention. I had not head about it at all. I will do my best to spread the words to all I know.
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LaVena Johnson
Just when you think you’ve heard it all,
Another name is slammed into a brick wall,
LaVena Johnson an Army Private First Class,
Is she the first? Certainly this PFC isn’t the last.Is it any wonder Osama Bin Laden can’t be found?
With murders and rapists in camp running around,
Destroying evidence, burning bodies, again & again,
Calling themselves soldiers, claiming they are men.What a shame when the real enemy is on the same side,
Behind the color of camaraderie these cowards hide,
Punched in the face, loose teeth, she was only 5 feet 1,
The Army claims its suicide, that’s all, over and done.So, how did that chemical burn get on her private parts?
Oh yeah, maybe a tattoo, some kind of new wave art,
Why would someone waste time getting rid of DNA?
Just maybe without detection they’re free to get away.The U.S. Army actually tried lying, hooray for her dad,
He gave that crap the smell test and oh did it smell bad,
7/19/05 her dead body found in a contractor’s tent, HBR,
Broken nose, black eye, shot in the head and body scars.Military personnel or civilians aren’t we on the same side?
Who is the American Government protecting, why that lie?
Had to be someone with pull to get her alone, you’d think,
I don’t have to be standing next to skunk to know it stinks.Where’s Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the infamous NAACP?
She could not have been more violated, do you not agree?
A 19-year-old honor student should be shown more respect,
But, this is how she’s being treated. Hey! What the heck?Can’t call it racial because all women are treated the same,
Even academies and bases in the states there is this claim,
We are truly near the end of days soon God will work it out,
Vengeance will certainly be more than a punch in the mouth.Poems By Luke Easter
