I turned on C-Span to listen to the climate all-nighter, and got the final vote on Senator McCaskell's Military Safety Act. When I tuned in, the vote stood at 96-0. Then Senator Harry Reid voted Yea, and the act was passed unanimously in the Senate.
Recent filibusters notwithstanding, it seems the message has finally gotten through: it is not okay for soldiers, even very good soldiers, to get away with rape of fellow soldiers.
For some reason, the Senate has finally realized that the sacred institution of "chain of command" has failed dismally to enforce rules against rape, and instead have been protecting perpetrators, re-traumatizing victims by treating them as presumed liars, and forcing victims of rape to continue serving with their abusers. Indeed, often someone higher in the chain of command is the abuser. Senators have finally realized that a system that allows such horrors to go unpunished, that allows commanders to reverse guilty verdicts by the court system, cannot stand.
I feel better about the Senate than I have felt for years.
But...
Rape has always been part of warfare, prostitutes following armies all over the world. Pillage and women have long been part of the spoils of war. During World War II, this was recognized; the Japanese imported "comfort women" and the Aryan women kept ready to mate with the soldiers of the Reich were told to consider this an honor. I don't know if anyone else remembers speculation about how our army would manage at war in a country without prostitution - but I remember. Now it seems we have an answer, and have finally taken action to stop it.
Yet rape is still a part of warfare around the world, the presumed need of men to unwind from fighting by indiscriminate and often violent sex. We must not only stop rape as a weapon of war, but as the recognized release for the adrenaline and testosterone war causes.
Bravo to the Senate for taking this important step. I look forward to seeing this change implemented throughout the military.