Army Specialist who refused to return to Iraq claims sexual harassment

Mods: The first link posted below is not live yet but it should be at noon, PDT. The article is on the front page of today's print edition. My daily fishwrap, The Eugene Register Guard, doesn't post their current edition on line until then. I won't be at a computer then so I won't be able to post the link at that time. Please don't delete, unless you get the story from another source. Thanks, central scrutinizer

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/06/15/home.php

This is a followup on this story from two days ago, which you can read and which was posted on DU at that time.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/06/13/a1.arrest.0613.p1.php?section=cityregion

Army specialist refuses to return to Iraq
AWOL soldier's arrest brings out supporters
By Susan Palmer
The Register-Guard
Published: Tuesday, June 13, 2006

A soldier who deserted her Army unit to avoid a second tour of duty in Iraq will be returned to Fort Lewis, Wash., today after being arrested in Eugene on Sunday.

Eugene police arrested Suzanne Nicole Swift, 21, a specialist with the 54th Military Police Company, after receiving a copy of a felony warrant from the Fort Lewis provost marshal's office on Sunday. The warrant indicated that Swift could be found at her mother's house and officers arrested her there, Eugene police spokesman Rich Stronach said. Swift had been absent without leave since January. ....... Swift's mother, Eugene social worker Sara Rich, has been a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, but said she didn't stand in her daughter's way when Swift decided to join the Army in spring 2003.

snip

While she was in Iraq, she wrote to Rich about being repeatedly sexually harassed by Army staff and was always anxious about being assaulted, Rich said. She didn't complain because she thought it would make things worse, Rich said.

Days before the redeployment in January, Swift was packed and ready to go, but then broke down, car keys in hand, Rich said.

in our military over in Iraq should be a national scandal on every news show and in every paper.

I don't blame any woman for not wanting to go over there. Our troops are not being trained, watched or controlled. The top officers should be held personally responsible.

PB

It was a really heartbreaking story to listen to. It seems that her daughter was repeatedly sexually assaulted and when she complained to her superiors she was belittled and made fun of by the others in her unit. It was a very informative article. Here is a link to Democracy now with the story and a link of how to get in touch with her mother.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/15/1410258

by our own troops, they arrest her and throw her in jail. :grr:

I can't even express how much this pisses me off.
:mad:

i hate to make assumptions....but with everything else we've learned....i fear there are more horrors to be unveiled.

how women and girls are being treated in US custody. If the photos of what they're doing to men and boys isn't enough to horriby you, you know they're giving women and girls At Least the same treatment.