Today, a female soldier serving in the US army is more likely to be raped than killed or injured by enemy fire. An estimated 30 percent of servicewomen and at least one percent of servicemen are sexually assaulted during their enlistment; not by the enemy, but by fellow soldiers. Most victims keep quiet in the absence of recourse outside the chain of command. In many cases the person they were obliged to report the assault to was either involved or friends with the assailant.

The Invisible War, by Oscar and Emmy-nominated director Kirby Dick and Emmy-nominated producer Amy Ziering, reveals the extent of sexual assault in the armed forces and investigates the institutions that cover it up.

Interviews with retired and active service members, scholars and legal experts paint an alarming picture of the extent of the problem today. It is the emotional testimonies of victims, conducted by Ziering that form the core of the documentary, and show the profound personal and social consequences of these acts.

Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award

Directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering
Duration: 95
Year: 2011

In a time international troops are pulling out, leaving Afghanistan in charge of its own security, these women are breaking social boundaries. Some did not tell their families about their choice to join the army and the Taliban has put a price on the heads of the new cadettes.

Afghan Army Girls shows life on a military base isolated from the outside world, but also follows some women on their visits back home to their families. It gives a unique insight into the lives of a young generation that wants to contribute to the future of Afghanistan in unlikely circumstances.

Three military episodes are dominating headlines following reports from the German parliamentary ombudsman to the military.

– The treatment of officer-cadets onboard the German Navy tall ship Gorch Fock, including events surrounding the death of a female midshipman after she fell from the ship’s rigging during a training exercise, and whether several fellow midshipmen behaved in a way that could be deemed mutinous. Currently the vessel is in Argentina. The captain has been relieved of his command. An investigation is underway and the vessel has been ordered to return to Germany. (DW-TV report in English)

– The investigation into the death of a soldier in December last year at the Pol-e-Chomri base in Afghanistan. It was first suggested an accident occurred while the soldier was cleaning his weapon. German media are now reporting up to 10 troops may have been fooling around and the soldier was killed by the weapon of a comrade.

– Feldpost: the unauthorized opening and tampering of letters posted by soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.

Minister zu Guttenberg obviously has a lot of explaining to do about what’s happening inside the German military and his own department. He is also under pressure from opposition parties over whether he’s adequately informed parliament about the Gorch Fock incidents.

All of this comes at a time when Germany’s troop commitment in Afghanistan (and the timing of a possible withdrawal) is under debate, as well as what is the future of a smaller, professional German armed forces following the ending of compulsory military service.

Thomas Wiegold of the excellent German defence blog augengeradeaus.net has produced a good Audioboo summary of the Gorch Fock reports in English.

And a Süddeutsche Zeitung interview with Minister zu Guttenberg also tries to zero-in on what the Minister did or did not know about these events and what action he is taking. A translation is below.

(Interview conducted by Peter Blechschmidt, published 21 January 2011.)

SZ: Minister, is the Bundeswehr covering up unpleasant truths?

Guttenberg: That should never be the strategy of the Bundeswehr, and that is also not the case.

SZ: But in the case of the soldier killed in northern Afghanistan also with the situation onboard the Gorch Fock has your Ministry not told the whole truth?

Guttenberg: Nonsense. In the case of the soldier killed it was officially known on the day after the accident, that possibly a second person was involved. The public prosecutor’s office were immediately informed and is investigating. With the investigation underway to gain evidence of the actual events, we can not make comments out of respect to those involved.

SZ: And of the alleged mutiny onboard the Gorch Fock, you hadn’t heard anything up till now?

Guttenberg: I was informed about that accusation through the documents of the military ombudsman dated 17 January. I immediately directed the Inspector of Navy and the head of the legal department here in the Ministry to clarify the facts. You will not hear any pre-judgement from me. But if these accusations are true, then there will be clear consequences. Generally speaking: degrading drill can not be tolerated. And the accusation of mutiny is a very serious one, in light of what I know so far.

SZ: But aren’t the accusations relating to the Gorch Fock so grave that you as Minister should have been informed?

Guttenberg: Part of the investigation will be to determine if the lines of communication were respected. If there were failures there will be consequences. All of that must be clearly explained. On this matter I have little patience.

SZ: After the death of the female midshipman aboard the Gorsch Fock the training exercise was suspended. At that time the impression came about this appears to have been merely an act of compassion.

Guttenberg: The responsible Inspector of Navy had decided out of technical reasons to suspend the training and to send the training crew back to Germany. The Gorch Fock though should continue her journey.

SZ: And you hadn’t heard about the opening of letters posted from Afghanistan?

Guttenberg: The responsible military leadership in charge did not have any knowledge of this. My mind reading skills are therefore very limited. But here too the investigations are in full swing.

SZ: Are these emerging developments now not posing the question of whether the inner leadership of the Bundeswehr has failed?

Guttenberg: Should the allegations turn out to be true we will most likely be dealing with individual failings. The inner leadership is successful and widely accepted within the Bundeswehr. To draw conclusions about the majority of Bundeswehr from potential individual misconduct – after all it’s about 250,000 soldiers – would be totally unjustified.

U.N. officials are scrambling to prepare for the prospect of tens of thousands of refugees pouring into eastern Chad from Darfur to escape escalating tensions in Sudan. An mass movement of displaced peoples will pose major challenges to the European Union peacekeeping force in Chad and Chadian government troops, considering that combatants in the Darfur conflict mix with, and make their bases among, the refugee population. Military forces in Chad will be faced with identifying and perhaps even engaging fighters who are nearly indistinguishable from the refugees surrounding them.

Displaced people represent an increasingly important "battlespace" (ugh, I hate that term) in the 21st century. Refugees’ hardships make them a fertile recruiting ground for insurgents, and their movements can carry insurgencies across borders and into vulnerable communities. As gravely, the blending of insurgents and refugee communities puts aid groups in the awful position of unwittingly providing assistance to combatants.

In light of this, military forces must prepare for conflict in the refugee battlespace. But how?

At the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, the U.S. Army trains combat brigades for upcoming deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The training tries to simulate conditions on the ground in those countries, by populating the ranges with actors and expatriates portraying civilians and local leaders caught up in the fighting (pictured). JRTC’s Lieutenant Colonel Robert Morschauser said units can request training scenarios in which refugees (played by actors) are displaced by some event and attempt to cross an active battlefield. The U.S. soldiers must avoid hurting the refugees while hunting down the cause of the displacement.

Great. But there’s a problem. In writing the scenario scripts, the Army relies on advice from the U.S. State Department’s Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Actual humanitarian groups do not provide any input. In order to accurately portray the desperation and confusion of mass displacement, the Army should solicit advice from non-partisan aid groups with deep experience in real refugee crises, rather than relying only on government reconstruction teams.

(Photo: me)