The Martland Act – USA Gov Policy

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. 1^st 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 114^th 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.

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay