July 7, 2006 at 06:52:16

Command Rape

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By David Swanson (about the author) Page 3 of 3 page(s)

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SARA: Well, up until a couple of days ago, she was confined to base, but they just gave her a pass to come home, which was really awesome, because this is kind of like a family reunion weekend for us. We do the Oregon Country Fair, and it's like our family reunion, so she is able to come down for the Oregon Country Fair, but her status, she hasn't been charged with anything as of yet. They haven't charged her with AWOL or any of that, so that still is up in the air, and they have started a criminal investigation into the three sergeants.

DAVID: That's encouraging, and I know you've set up a web site at suzanneswift.org. Have you been getting a lot of support from individuals and organizations? Who has been helpful, or have you not found as much support as you would like?

SARA: Well, I think that there's always room for more support. We're going up against the US military; I mean, it's pretty intimidating. You know, I'm a member of Military Families Speak Out, and they have been wonderful; Vets for Peace have been wonderful; Courage to Resist have been amazing. We've gotten a lot of support from a lot of people. When you get into the web site, you will see there's a link to a petition and so far we have about 2000 names of people that are signing on to support Suzanne and get her an honorable discharge as fast as possible.

DAVID: I've looked at that petition, and it's a little disturbing because people are leaving comments on the side, saying, "You know, I've been harassed and abused and assaulted in the Army myself." I don't know. I can't authenticate any of those comments, but the number of them suggests something of a pattern. Are you following up on those in any way?

SARA: Well, I don't know if there really is any way for us to follow up on them, but they are definitely mirroring what we are getting in our mailbox, you know, because we also have a Yahoo account for my daughter Suzanne at Yahoo.com, and it's definitely telling the same story. It's heartbreaking, and it's almost re-traumatizing to read these and know that this has been happening for so long and that there are just a huge amount of women vets and men vets that have been hurt in the military, and nothing's been done about it, but the term "swept under the carpet" is reoccurring in so many of these e-mails.

DAVID: And that e-mail address is Suzanne@yahoo.com?

SARA: formydaughtersuzanne@yahoo.com.

DAVID: formydaughtersuzanne@yahoo.com.

SARA: Yes.

DAVID: And what else can people do to help? Go and sign the petition? Is that the primary thing people should do who want to help?

SARA: There are quite a few different ways of helping. Also, we're getting together a national day of support for Suzanne. Her 22nd birthday is July 15, and so Saturday, July 15, we are encouraging people to have a day of support for Suzanne, having rallies or vigils at places in your town where it can make some noise and make some difference, that people hear and bring some visibility to this case, because it really is leading the way for other people who have experienced this and forging a path so that none of our 18- and 19-year-olds who are privates, that are being deployed to combat zones, are going to experience this kind of treatment and harassment.

DAVID: Well, I will certainly do what I can to encourage that, and I hope others will as well, and I thank you for having the strength to speak out about this.

SARA: You know, definitely protecting my child is huge, monumental for me, thinking that all these other children and these other young people is one of the other driving forces behind this, and Suzanne feels the same way.

DAVID: Well, it needs to be done. I'm glad you're doing it.

SARA: Thank you, David.

DAVID: Thank you.

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David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. (more...)

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