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[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

You're not wrong, but I'd also say the accountability mechanism for the military is more stringent than the one for the police. Military court isn't a joke if you've broken rules of engagement and are caught, as I understand it. However police getting away with murder in civilian courts is much more likely.

That said, there's certainly a lot being covered up in the military so I'm sure the picture I've just painted isn't entirely accurate either. It's just frustrating the people supposed to protect the American populace are instead killing 1300 Americans a year (while only 65 or so die on duty). This is clearly very asymmetrical, and if it were a war we'd call it a massacre

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Accountability for soldiers is very lenient during deployments, unless the soldiers in question are making waves about illegal/questionable activity that the military is engaged in.

If an honest soldier reports his platoon for crimes, then an example is made of him.

The military is generally by the book when a unit is in garrison. With the exception of sexual assaults.
A colonel has an interest in finding his soldiers innocent, because he will have to explain how/why these crimes continue under his watch, and in his units.

Convicting sexual assault perpetrators in his units will damage his professional/political reputation/career. This is a fact.

Sexual assaults should be investigated an tried by the IGs.

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The military, not counting their war crimes, is covering up the rape of both women and men by other raging soldiers, among other things.

I suspect they only go after anything that threatens their hierarchies of authority or the executive agendas.