A guest editorial by Chaplain Don Zapsic Jr. ,Ohio Army National Guard (Ret.)
Sometimes words are hard to find, let alone explain the harsh political realities of war. While the realm of politics is far too often the graveyard of morality and ethics, the House Armed Services Committee is the final resting place of H.R. 4717 also known as the MARTLAND (Mandating America’s Responsibility To Limit Abuse, Negligence, and Depravity) Act. The catalyst for Congressman Duncan Hunter’s proposed legislation was an impending discharge action against Army Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class (SFC) Charles Martland reprimanded for roughing up a pedophilic Afghan commander “lawfully” raping and enslaving a young boy against his will (www.armytimes.com). H.R. 4717 had eighteen proud co-sponsors in the 114th Congressional House Armed Services Committee out of a sixty-three member total. While SFC Martland was granted a last-minute reprieve by the Army, the MARTLAND Act faded into obscurity.
The thrust of the proposed legislation was designed to “establish a policy against sexual abuse on all U.S. military installations, whether located in the United States or overseas (www.congress.gov.bill).” Standing Department of Defense (DoD) policy has not required the reporting of Afghan national sexual assaults on U.S. installations unless used as a “weapon of war” (www.nytimes.com). While the last minute reprieve of SFC Martland from an impending discharge action is a compelling national story, the fall of the legislative axe on H.R. 4717 is a national disappointment. The “falling axe” was one of disengagement and delay on the part of the House Armed Services Committee. Consequently, the raping of young Afghan boys on U.S. military installations is still tolerated in Afghanistan to this day.
The MARTLAND Act was never given due consideration as a standalone bill which would have required a full committee vote regarding Afghan child rape on U.S. military installations. Rather, it was diverted and subsequently considered as an addendum to the 2017 Defense Authorization Act in March of 2016. An omnibus bill that in addition to including the national defense budget is chocked full of tacked-on provisions having little to do with national defense. H.R. 4717 did not make the cut being rejected on the grounds that it was introduced too late in the legislative calendar to be duly vetted for inclusion. The story does not end here as the House Armed Services Committee has not further addressed the issues presented in the MARTLAND Act. Obviously, it was not just a question of timing since twenty-one months have passed with no further legislative action taken on the subject. What else could it be?
All other issues aside, DoD toleration of child rape safe-havens on U.S. military installations coupled with legislative impotence exacts a heavy psychological toll on our servicemembers. Even if all legal, spiritual, ethical, and moral considerations are set aside, the physical, mental and emotional impact of exposure to unchallenged human rights abuses is undeniable. Consider the shame and guilt evoked for not helping a defenseless child when able to do so. Or for that matter, the mental strain of trying to reconcile following orders that contradict all previous sexual assault training with the need to be tolerant of the abhorrent cultural practices of others. It is a recipe for PTSD with corresponding symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, and intrusive thoughts persisting far beyond one’s active military service.
It is an acceptable practice within the military hierarchy to deny that U.S. Servicemembers are
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bases. I received one such denial in a correspondence from the Ohio National Guard’s
Liaison Office (Dec. 1, 2017) stating at one point, “It is our understanding that you are advocating for legislation to bring awareness to alleged child abuse in theatre.” The Ohio National Guard would have to be oblivious to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three Marines on a U.S. base in Helmand Province to issue such a statement. They were shot in cold blood by a teenage Afghan sex slave back in 2012 (New York Times, Kirsten Luce, Sept. 20, 2015).
Lance Cpl. George Barkley Jr., one of three Marines gunned down, was cited in Luce’s article as complaining to his father during a phone call home about hearing Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought into the barracks one floor above them. For many reasons cited and otherwise, there was ample justification for Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr. to introduce the MARTLAND ACT. While the DoD Inspector General has recently forwarded recommendations to the Department of Defense for child abuse reporting procedures, the rhetoric still falls short of empowering servicemembers to actually stop a deviant act in progress. The House Armed Services Committee needs to do its job and forward a like version of the MARTLAND ACT onto the House Floor to stop one of the great travesties of our time and all of the grief associated with it.