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The wars in Iraq and Rapid City -
No victory in sight
A column
By Hazel Bonner
So Saddam is in custody. I take no particular satisfaction or joy in that fact. So what is the goal of the war now? Bush still seemed to have that cat that swallowed the canary smirk on his face during his press conference on Sunday. His restrained joy was obvious to me.
Will the violence in Iraq end? Can we now declare victory and bring our troops home? The war in Iraq to search out and destroy weapons of mass destruction and to search out and capture Saddam Hussein, should be over, shouldn’t it! There were no WMD found. Saddam is in custody. Those are facts that are hard to deny, but our government will undoubtedly find a way.
Victory was declared on May 1, prematurely, of course. More American and Iraqi civilian lives have been lost since that day than during the war before victory was declared.
At the exact time I was watching the goings on in Iraq I was seated at my computer reading an account of an indigenous woman soldier in Iraq that had been posted in the Denver Post recently. Along with that I was reading a report on the state of Indian health care in the Indigenous News Network electronic newsletter and the reaction of Leonard Peltier to the conviction of Janklow in the LPDC electronic newsletter.
Amy Longee, is a Lakota/Dakota woman who was raped in the Army. She was raped and then sent to Iraq without sufficient counseling for the rape. Apparently, while she was in Iraq, she witnessed an Iraqi man beaten to death by US forces after his vehicle collided with their Humvee. She has pictures of the incident.
The trauma of her service in Iraq has compounded the trauma of her rape, by another Army soldier and former friend. She went home to Kansas on R & R leave for Thanksgiving. She was unable to leave the trauma of Army life behind and while at home she suffered a mental breakdown, and checked herself into a civilian mental hospital.
The Army found her, having been searching for her to send her back to Iraq. She was taken from the mental hospital and forced to return to Ft. Hood, Texas.
Amy Herd, the Denver Post, reporter spoke to Longee’s mother. There is reason to believe that Longee has been drugged, and is being held without sufficient legal or medical assistance. Her mother believes she may be in serious physical danger.
After nearly a year since the rape, with clear DNA evidence of the rape by another Army man, also serving in Iraq, no one has been prosecuted. She has been told to “forget the rape and drive on.”
She serves in Iraq as a gunner and driver escorting convoys. She was denied a promotion based allegedly on her “poor decisions” when she insisted that something be done about the rape.
Her new supervisor in Iraq was once a roommate of the rapist and treats her with contempt. Others in her platoon have picked up the attitude. She was not allowed to visit a chaplain for counseling bout the rape. Men in her platoon tell her to just kill herself.
The Denver Post published an expose of its nine-month investigation into the handling of sexual assault and domestic violence cases on November 16-18. Their report concluded that the armed services have discouraged victims from reporting, deprived them of advocates and counseling, and conducted shoddy investigations according to interviews with more than 60 military women and reviews of records.
Those who have come forward have been blamed, ostracized or punished, like Longee. Longee, born in Poplar, Montana has wanted to be a cop since her birth. When her mother remarried, the family moved from a Montana reservation to Andale Kansas. Her natural parents are from two different Sioux tribes.
In January, 2001, Longee joined the Army and in January, 2002, she was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to guard detainees from Afghanistan. There she served with the man who later raped her.
The military mishandled her examination for rape, which was reported within 72 hours. After an interview by an investigator, she was sent to a civilian hospital. Physicians at that hospital performed a rape examination, and collected evidence including the attacker’s semen and blood from her underwear caused by injuries from the rape.
A civilian advocate counseled her and she was later contacted by an Army major who also said she was a counselor. Her only concern seemed to be why a civilian hospital had gotten involved. Her attacker started following her and parked his car next to hers. She reported the stalking and he was to be restricted.
In March she learned that her unit was being deployed to Iraq. She believed she would be getting away from her attacker. Since leaving for Iraq her case has been passed around. You can call the reporter, Amy Herdy at 303-820-1752 or reach her electronically at aherdy@denverpost.com. Contact our representatives in Congress to launch an investigation. I will report next week on what I have found out.
Meanwhile the IHS continues its shoddy services. There is probably no need to report on that as much has already been reported. South Dakota has some of the highest death rates for Native Americans. Senator Daschle has requested $4.4 million dollars more for HIS. There is little support from others in Congress.
Although the Native American population served by HIS is growing by about 2 percent a year, and medical costs are rising at about 10 to 12 percent a year, the agency’s budget has remained nearly flat. Thus services are falling further and further behind.
Judy Nichols reported in The Arizona Republic last year that “Native americans are dying at shocking rates. Of alcoholism, tuberculosis and diabetes. From accidents, suicide and homicide. At rates up to seven times higher than other Americans.”
But no one seems to recognize the crises enough to improve the health care. And the Badlands Bombing Range continues without funding to finish the clean up. The U.S. government continues to commit its incredible acts of cowardice in the handling of sexual assault in the military and in the negligent treatment of the high death rates from diseases and accidents of consumers of the HIS and in leaving the toxic environment on the Badlands Bombing Range. I was informed that partial cleanup has been completed on 12 of 28 sectors of the BBR.
Leonard Peltier remains locked in prison for a crime he did not commit. He responded to the conviction of Janklow by basically saying that it took the death of a white man to corral that wild man. And the war against Indians in Rapid City continues unabated, but perhaps slowed just a bit..
On Sunday I was informed that a hearing on the reply to the eviction of an Indian resident of Sioux Addition for non-payment of taxes, has been delayed. A hearing had been scheduled for magistrate court before Judge Severns on December 15, 2003.
However, the same day he notified the resident of the hearing he referred the case to Circuit Court as had been requested by the resident in his reply. In a letter to the presiding Judge of the Circuit, Thomas L. Trimble, Severns said , “It appears that the issue raised by the Answer is the ownership of the real property in question, I believe the statute says that when title to real property is in issue, the proper original jurisdiction is in Circuit Court rather than Magistrate Court.” Two attorneys told me it was a waste of time!
A letter dated December 10 was sent to the resident informing him that the hearing scheduled for December 15 has been cancelled and will be rescheduled for a new date and time in Circuit Court. Maybe now he has time to seek to have the case removed to federal court, where it properly belongs.
Meanwhile, the search for an attorney to take this matter continues. Attorney Gary Frisher, representing OST, met with me and indicated an interest, but has failed to respond to any of my inquiries about the matter . Is it because I am not indigenous? For whatever reason, the carefully done research report presented to Mr. Frisher and other attorneys has not gotten them to respond. Do I have to continue doing what I do, because licensed attorneys are not doing their jobs?
WHERE ARE THE LICENSED ATTORNEYS IN THIS CONTINUING WAR ON IDIANS IN RAPID CITY? IF ANY OF YOU READ THIS AND CARE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING, PLEASE CONTACT ME.
Bonner is a free lance writer who writes from her home. She can be reached electronically at hbonpidge1 at hotmail.com; by phone at (605)343-4467; or by mail at PO Box 3712, Rapid City, SD 55709-3712.
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