Military Nude Photo Scandal Widens
Any thing that besmirches the reputation of our military disgusts me. I understand that military personnel are people just like you and I, but like other very important jobs that concern our safety and well being - I hold people in these positions to a higher standard. I think that police officers that break the law should sentenced more harshly that other citizens in trouble for breaking the same law. It's the same logic that would lead you to be more outraged if a drunk driver had their child in the car at the time of the offence. As a parent, you would expect the person who is charge of someone else's safety to exhibit better decision making skills. When they fail to do so, it's expected that said person will incur extra charges to match their stupidity, right?
That brings me to the latest scandal sweeping the nation, the nude photo scam that is plaguing the US military. These men and women are charged with the security of our nation, and everyone living in it. Last week, CNN reported that some active duty, and not-currently-on-active-duty (there are no retired Marines) members of the U.S. Marine Corps were caught sharing and posting nude photos of female service members. As the investigation continues, new information is coming to light that indicates other branches of the military may be involved as well.
Allegedly, the offenders in this situation would first post a clothed picture of the victim and then would ask for "wins." The "wins" were nude photos of the targeted subject. According to the CNN article, additional information was sometimes shared with the image. This information could contain Names, ranks, and where the subject was stationed.
In response to these allegations, the Pentagon has denounced these actions as "Not consistent with their values and a Facebook group called "Marines United" with more than 30,000 members has been shutdown. This is far from the end of this story, and far from the end of the embarrassment this small portion of the military has heaped upon the rest of our proud men and women in the armed services. The message board on an image hosting site is still up, and still contains many of the offending images.
In my opinion, these offenders should be judged harshly. If it is found that these images were posted without the consent of the subject of the photo (which seems like the case here), the offenders have denigrated one of the core values of the military - teamwork. If your teammates respect you so little that they reduce you to sex objects, how can they view you as equals?