Pentagon pressured to show progress on assaults
Politico reports:
After a year of skirmishing on Capitol Hill, the intense debate on military sexual assaults is about to get a new central player — President Barack Obama, who faces a delicate decision in coming months on just how far to push the Pentagon to change a system that’s been largely static for decades.
Defense Department officials are scrambling to meet Obama’s Dec. 1 deadline to show progress in addressing sexual assault throughout the ranks, otherwise, he could revoke a commander’s powerful role in the Pentagon’s unique justice system – which though amended significantly late last year, still remains rooted in a World War II mindset. They’re churning out data and reports to demonstrate how a couple years’ worth of new policies have made it easier for victims to step forward and report crimes. Legal and policy experts chartered by the Pentagon also face their own tight schedules to produce analysis and suggestions for Obama.
Bird-dogging everything is Congress, which this month starts crafting the next annual defense authorization bill and where one of the Pentagon’s biggest critics, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, is itching for another battle to shake up the military justice system.
