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BY JIM FLINK

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“We are trained to watch others’ back in the military.  That is what the military is about.  Protect your buddy, you’re on the buddy system. You go to war with your buddy.  You keep your buddy alive.  You don’t rape them.” (Al Jazeera)

Is it a cover-up -- or a media hatchet job? A handful of media outlets -- are raising the spector that rape in the U.S. military has risen to staggering proportions -- and that the various branches are refusing to investigate or report the issue. And those outlets are citing U.S. government agencies -- which aren’t denying the claims.

The investigative report -- comes from Al Jazeera, which sites U.S. government documents as the source of its findings.  A handful of other media outlets -- like Bloomberg and Veteran’s Today Network have also printed it.

First -- to the findings. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the rate of sexual assault on women in the military is twice that in the civilian population. A Government Accountability Office report concluded that most victims stay silent because of "the belief that nothing would be done; fear of ostracism, harassment, or ridicule and concern that peers would gossip."

Al Jazeera spoke with Susan Avila-Smith -- herself a rape victim while serving in the military.  She says, this isn’t a new problem -- but the military procedures in place to prevent the rape of women -- and men -- favors the accused over the victim.

“They have not done anything to hold the perpetrators accountable.  Or the commanders who make the decisions accountable.  So a commander can say, oh we’re going to make ‘em pick up trash for six hours instead of sending them to jail.”

This week, the U.S. Defense Department released its investigative findings of rape within the military academies, which notes more than three dozen reports of sexual assault or rape.

“The 41 reports represent a 64% increase from APY 08-09. In prior years’ assessments, the Department recommended that the Academies take steps to bring more victims forward to report. The increased reporting of sexual assault is a strategic priority for the entire Department.”

On Bloomberg, columnist Ann Woolner cites a lawsuit against the Department of Defense which alleges the number of sexual assaults within the armed services rose 73 percent from 2004 to 2006 and 11 percent from 2008 to 2009.

“...it seems to be getting worse, even after high-profile promises to protect service members against sexual predators... recommendations to standardize reporting and create environments where victims feel safe to report and offenders fear the consequences.”

TIME Magazine visited the issue in March -- and suggests -- not only do victims need to feel safe -- the wider military culture needs to change. TIME’s Nancy Gibbs looks at reasons for victims’ silence.

“...military culture is intrinsically violent and hypermasculine, that the military is slow to identify potential risks among raw young recruits, that too many commanders would rather look the other way than acknowledge a breakdown in their units...”

Veteran’s Today Network carried the story, as is from Al Jazeera, prompting reaction from a reader who says, question the source of this so-called “reporting.”

“Let me see! Al Jezeera is that rag paper in the middle east that prints bulls***. Anything that will trash the US military, Al Jazeera will back. What kind of credibility does Veterans Today expect from running an article like this.  I know that anytime a large number of people are together, anything is possible, but I don’t buy the magitute that this article presents.”

So do you believe these reports?  Or is it a hatchet job by foreign media outlets?

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