Washington Post: Military brass claim progress in pursing sexual assault cases

The Washington Post reports:

As Congress debates whether to remove sexual assault cases from the chain of command to an independent group, top officers from all five branches said Wednesday the military is trying to prosecute more assailants, prevent retaliation against victims and offer them better counseling.

The Pentagon estimates there were 26,000 incidents of unwanted sexual contact last year alone, from groping to rape. And while most attention has focused on servicemen assaulting servicewomen, the majority of cases involved male-on-male assaults.

In what may have been the only news flash from this forum, Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., vice chair of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will soon announce several initiatives meant to crack down on “this insider threat” to all service members, in order to produce “a culture of total intolerance.”