A Failure in Leadership

It is a sad truth that rape is doing to happen in the military, just as it happens in society.  But a few key differences stand out:

• in civilian life, you have more ability to one's tormentor.
• in civilian life, one's bosses have less power over you.
• in civilian life, your life does not depend so much on the people around you, above you and below you.

So, this story of women who found DoD woefully unresponsive to their situations is deeply depressing.  I have been a big fan of SecDef Gates, but he seems to have fallen far short of his usual performance here.  I just hope that this lawsuit brings some changes.  Yes, it is possible that there is not a systematic problem here and that some mistakes were made.  But the machinery should be there to protect everyone from everyone else.