On no American highway have I seen the bumper sticker, "Support the troops unless they get raped by other troops."
 
Judging from the level of attention and care given to female soldiers who are sexually assaulted, it may be time to plaster those stickers all over American automobiles.
 
Otherwise, proclamations of "troop support" by exploitative politicians and hypocritical pundits should be treated as inconsistent, incomplete, and phony.
 
The US Department of Veterans Affairs reported in 2005 that 11 percent of females in the National Guard were raped and 20 percent were sexually assaulted. If the fact that one out of every five women in the NG is sexually assaulted is not appalling enough, keep in mind what Defense Department spokesperson Cynthia Smith said in response to the study: "Sexual assault is the nation’s most underreported crime."
 
Additional inquires by the VA found that 23 percent of female users of VA healthcare reported experiencing sexual assault while in the military. Seven percent of women who served in the Persian Gulf War reported being raped and 33 percent were victims of physical sexual harassment.
 
Brave young women freely enter into the military, accept the sacrifices that military life requires, and as a bonus to being shot at overseas and targeted by lunatics carrying explosive devices, they may be sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers – the very men they expect to protect them and are assigned to protect during a violent conflict.
 
Following their physical rape, they have to deal with the Department of Defense which offers inadequate, shoddy, and pathetic resources for victims of "military sexual trauma."
 
Anita Sanchez with the Miles Foundation, an organization that advocates for sexually assaulted female veterans, told ABC News: "We exist because the federal government hasn’t done enough. The Senate Armed Services has recognized there are not enough services, and the VA was authorized in the early 1990s to create sexual trauma counseling centers, but the Defense Department is only now calling for proposals."
 
So, where are all of the pious people’s servants who boast about their love of country and support for troops, while bullying those who dare criticize this war by questioning their patriotism?
 
The damaging VA report was released in 2005 by a small group of Congressmen, but most of it was written in 2001 and suppressed by the Bush administration. The President prioritized protecting the Pentagon’s image over getting raped veterans the services they desperately need.
 
Congress self-righteously waved their finger at the DOD and demanded they deal with the problem, but offered no punishment for failure to cooperate. They have also under funded the VA’s MST program by an estimated $7 billion.
 
The media, with the exception of PBS’s Now program, have stood disgustingly mute. Not even the air conditioned office warriors of Fox News have spoken in defense of soldiers raped on duty. Instead they devote mindless hours of television to attacking "the liberals" and obsessing over Hillary Clinton’s cackle.
 
Even major feminist lobbies, such as the National Organization for Women, have displayed apathy in face of this dreadful story.
 
While our country ties yellow ribbons on trees, some of the troops we claim to support are sexually assaulted and then ignored when they return home from an unnecessary and unjust war.
 
Meanwhile, the rapists go unpunished and remain in the barracks to prey on their next victim.
 
If America is serious about supporting soldiers it is essential that this problem be addressed and leaders be held accountable for their cruel indifference, even it does not feel good or nicely translate into a back of the car slogan.