U.S. Military Covers up Murder: Says Soldier Beat Herself to Death

[kpete]

U.S. Military Covers up Murder: Says Soldier Beat Herself to Death
Posted by General JC Christian on July 31, 2008 at 5:04 PM.

"There was a blood trail from outside a contractor's tent to inside the tent."



If Gen. Petraeus says things are rosy, they are. Questioning his integrity is an attack on all the men and women who serve in our military. The same holds true for the brave Army investigators who, when confronted with the evidence surrounding Lavena Johnson's death, ruled it a suicide.

The photographs revealed that Lavena, a small woman, barely 5 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, perhaps a weapon stock. Her nose was broken and her teeth knocked backwards. One elbow was distended. The back of her clothes had debris on them indicating she had been dragged from one location to another. The photographs of her disrobed body showed bruises, scratch marks and teeth imprints on the upper part of her body. The right side of her back as well as her right hand had been burned apparently from a flammable liquid poured on her and then lighted. The photographs of her genital area revealed massive bruising and lacerations. A corrosive liquid had been poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/93481/u.s._military_covers_up_murder%3A_says_soldier_beat_herself_to_death/#more

[my2sense]

1. K & R

[napoleon_in_rags]

2. Another PR victory for the military.

Between this, and having the privilege of having diodes implanted in your brain so Don Rumsfeld can remote control you:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x712990
I can't see why anybody wouldn't want to join these days. :sarcasm:

[SpiralHawk]

3. Under the 'leadership; of Commander AWOL & VP Five Deferments Cheney,

our military is losing it's way. My heart goes out to our sons and daughters in uniform who must serve under the example of these lying, honor-free republicon chickenhawks who set a miserably bad example of morality for everyone.

[DearAbby]

4. loss for words...

all I can do is weep.

[madeline_con]

5. I hate to split hairs, but...

"The parents of the young Missouri woman were told that she died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, and her death was ruled a suicide."

She could have shot herself after the attack. It's possible. I'm just saying.

[Canuckistanian]

10. She was shot in the back of the head

That's a pretty novel way of committing suicide.

She had gunshot wounds in her forehead that the coroner suggested were exit wounds.

[madeline_con]

15. Sorry.

I did'nt read the location of the wound in the story. :shrug:

[CatWoman]

19. and she was shot with an M-16

are you aware how much damage that weapon does?

[madeline_con]

23. Her face was intact enough to detect

rifle butt injuries. But no one shoots themselkves in the back of the head. Statistically, women are highly unlikely to mess themselves up. They use other methods.

[nachoproblem]

45. Not to mention...

the body was burned with gasoline and the genitals doused with a corrosive agent to destroy any DNA evidence. Who would do this and leave the victim ALIVE to shoot herself? No, just no. And if she shot herself first, there would be no need to destroy that evidence.

[Canuckistanian]

20. I had heard it earlier on NovaM radio

I suspect that these autopsy reports were FORCED into the open by a "leak".

And I thank that person who leaked it.

[Swede]

6. K&R

A truly horrifing story on many levels.

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Someone in the Army thinks Fight Club was a documentary? n/t

[2KS2KHonda]

8. I never thought I'd see the day the Army would take a 5 foot 100 pound female.

They must really be desperate.

[Mandate My Ass]

9. They are desperate

all those red-blooded strapping republicans who love this war so much are staying home.

She was bravely serving her country in the most dangerous way possible - died while doing so - and you find fault with her size? :eyes:

[madeline_con]

16. I don't think her size was being criticized. n/t

[entanglement]

12. Yeah, if we only could get our 7 feet tall DU trolls to sign up...

[DCKit]

27. 7 feet tall? Yeah, right.

[fascisthunter]

31. ouch...

:thumbsup:

[jmowreader]

34. I've seen smaller ones

One of my classmates in wiretapping school was 4'7" and weighed 85 lbs. Minimum height was 4'6" at the time.

[pnorman]

11. "Military justice is to justice what military music is to music." (Groucho Marx)

n/t

pnorman

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. Our glorious military..cover up? Perish the thought.

How could you imagine such a thing from such an institution well known for it's honesty and straight forward presentation of the facts?

:sarcasm:

[lovuian]

14. what they are doing to our women is horrendous

and then the military doesn't report it

and then whats with all these suicides if she did

Something is gravely terribly wrong over there

[L0oniX]

17. Killers killing killers? Oh no's. 20% of women in the military get raped or sexually assaulted...

and it all gets covered up. YAwn ...nothing new. Let have a dream that our government will actually do something about it. Wake me when they do.

Edited because I forgot to say ...I HATE THE US MILITARY !

[Canuckistanian]

21. And those are just the ones that admit it

The figure is much higher than that.

[Alexander]

18. Sickening and saddening. What the hell is happening to our country?

[Selatius]

22. Fascism or corporate authoritarianism. With it, rampant sexism as well.

War for profits. That's what it is. While we're doing that, raping and pillaging along the way.

[Wiley50]

24. 81 Pages of More Stories Like This One

Here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3712145

[Disturbed]

25. Why does the Military get to investigate itself?

Tons of cases that the Military investigates end up with no case against anyone in their Military.

:mad:

[bertman]

39. BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT THE HEAVY WEAPONS. DUH

[Wilms]

26. K&R n/t

[Mnemosyne]

28. ... n/t

[pleah]

29. Our military has become a disgrace, bombing wedding parties,

Covering up rape and murder of female soldiers, murdering fellow soldiers (Pat Tillman) and on and on. And, detaining and torturing countless numbers of people.

I wish they would redeem themselves by holding the guilty accountable, but I don't think that is ever going to happen. So sad.

[L0oniX]

30. Correction: U.S. Military Covers up MurderS

...and that's not all. Over 20% of women in the military have been raped or sexually assaulted. I hate the military. Hey military, get a fucking clue ...you are not protecting or fighting our freedoms and democracy. You are fighting for rich capitalist war pigs.

[fascisthunter]

32. god damn it

fucking cowards

[Booster]

33. This has got to be the most ridiculous story of the year.

[bagrman]

35. jTime to start the draft back up.

[jmowreader]

36. Isn't this like falling down the stairs fifteen times?

Or falling on a knife nine times? Come on: if you're going to murder someone you just gang-raped, at least TRY make it look like it might have been a suicide!

[IndependentDem]

37. Cenk of TYT had a hell of a rant about this...

check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv_I5VcgPcY

[AnneD]

38. When will this case...

get the justice it deserves.

[whistle]

40. This was a hate crime against this young female soldier

[CitizenPatriot]

41. sickening trend

Has anyone else noticed that since the right took over, we've had a resurgence in anti-feminism? Girls gone wild videos, young girl celebrities who are empty shells remade into barbie dolls, etc? Even their news casters look like this.

Don't get me wrong; I am NOT anti-femininity or anti-beauty or anti-sexy. But we are cranking out young girls who believe their only power lie in their sexuality (and not their real sexuality, but the one measured by its ability to get attention from the male) and have no qualms shedding all personal boundaries because of it. This phenomena speaks to the belief system of those in charge. What is underneath this? IMO, it's a deliberate attempt to recreate ownership of the female womb and in doing so, it becomes necessary to devalue all else. These are fundies who see women as breeders, not people.

So our military acts on these beliefs. Odd that a soldier is supposed to be honored and revered for their service, but it is OK for a woman to be beaten, raped, abused and left dead in such a nauseatingly hate-filled way and the folks in charge will IGNORE it? Where is the honor of a woman? Where is the great reverence we are supposed to show for John McCain because he is a vet? If someone dared to scratch him, we'd hear an uproar from around this country of outrage. But here is a young woman, beaten and raped, and we hear nothing.

My heart is broken for her parents and friends, my heart is broken even for the empty, soulless people who did this to her for what kind of person do you have to be to do something this atrocious? Is this not torture? To die as you are being raped and having acid poured into your body to cover up the crime? This is the worst form of abuse and torture I can imagine.

Shame on this government. Shame on the military and shame on the people responsible.

I am so focused on getting this country back and establishing a norm wherein things like this can be addressed in a proper forum. We are not a democracy, we are not civilized, we are not free. And when we teach, through our actions, that this kind of behavior will be tolerated toward the other gender, other race, other religion, other anything, we are too far from humane. I hope for the return of justice, humanity, sanity and civility.

[OwnedByFerrets]

42. ....

God Damned Motherfucking war criminals.:mad: :mad: :mad:

[OwnedByFerrets]

43. We are still supposed to bow down and kiss

their heroic asses huh? Fuck YOU.

[EFerrari]

44. MURDER, that's what we call it in the United States.

[uppityperson]

46. She sure was serious about it, wasn't she? k&r damn those who do this& those who cover it up.

:sarcasm: for my first comment, damn them for the rest.

[KoKo]

47. It's Dreadful...what our Service Folks in Military are going through...and the women...

I live in NC and see he grisly, horrible reports of women being killed coming on our Tee Vee from Fayetteville where they send the "abused and demoralized" who don't have "missing limbs" back to so they can "reunite with their families. It's sick and sad the news from our Army Bases. Killings ...and always about women being the victim. But it's BOTH THE WOMEN AND THE MEN...who are the VICTIMS of WAR!

:cry: