© Scott Olson / Getty ImagesFemale Marine recruits
As the scandal involving photos of nude female Marines posted on Facebook widens, the Marine Corps' commandant has stepped in with an official statement, calling on the victims to come forward.
"These allegations themselves, they undermine everything that we stand for as a Marine Corps and as Marines: discipline, honor, professionalism and respect and trust amongst each other," General Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps,
said.
The scandal originally implicated marines belonging to a Facebook group called Marines United who were sharing images of naked personnel, jokingly named 'wins.'
The original Marines United group, which had 30,000 members,
contained "hundreds - possibly thousands" of photos of naked female recruits, veterans, and other women. Though it was closed when the scandal broke, its time offline was short-lived, as it reemerged as a new page with stricter membership criteria.
Neller said the number of victims identified "is less than 10 so far."
"But we would encourage anybody else who believes they've been involved in this to come forward... I'm going to ask them [victims] to trust us," he added, while admitting that he understands this could be "a bit of a reach for them right now."
"But I can't fix this. I mean, the only way that there's going to be accountability in this, is if somebody comes forward and tells us what happened to them.
"I need everybody's help, not just women Marines. I need all Marines. This affects them directly, but this affects the entire organization and our alumni and our reserve component," the Marine commandant said.
Neller pointed out that male and female marines have been fighting together for 15 years.
"You know, men and women, side by side," he said.
"You know, a sergeant major was killed up there [in Iraq] with a couple of female Marines that were manning the checkpoint where the Iraqi women would come through," Neller said, without giving the exact date or location.
The top Marine said that the individuals responsible "were focused on a particular group and their purpose was to degrade."
Nonetheless, no one has been charged yet, according to Neller.
"The investigation that's ongoing will help us understand the scope of this and I can assure you if there's accountability to be made, those that are involved will be held accountable," he said.
The explicit photos were uncovered on the Marines United page by the
War Horse, an NGO news organization run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan, who got in touch with the Marine Corps on January 30. A day later, the social media accounts involved were removed by Facebook and Google at the Corps' request.
Retired US Marine Erika Butner, who claims to be one of the victims,
told reporters that she was "disheartened and disgusted with this scandal."
"Victim blaming and the excuse that some are giving, that 'boys will be boys' needs to stop," Butner said, adding "as a rape survivor, I can tell you this exact behavior leads to the normalization of sexual harassment and even sexual violence." Another alleged victim, Marine Lance Corporal Marisa Woytek,
said photos of her were taken from her Instagram account and posted on the Marines United page several times.
"Even if I could, I'm never reenlisting," Woytek said, as cited by the
Washington Post, while stressing that "being sexually harassed online ruined the Marine Corps for me, and the experience."
Reader Comments
Or did I misunderstand your opinion of the American military male? Because I think you are correct, our military men aren't safe to be around in their predatory manners. So, is euthanasia our only option after their tour of duty is over? Not to end their 'pain', but to prevent their future crime potential? I see where you are going with this.. which is why the PTB are setting up AI based robotic teams to displace these animals. The only problem is whether the PTB really think they can control the AI programs any better? Or is the real problem that they like things just the way they are, which explains why nothing seems to change.
1) you are saying that these male 'soldiers' can't be expected to control their animal instincts and thereby, like most establishment figures, can't be held accountable for their actions
Accountable how? What should happen to them? Execution? Firing? What exactly is their crime? Except in the 1 out of 30,000 users who took stalker pictures, the rest appeared to be selfie's taken by women and sent to the men or someone they knew, that they shared. That's definitely a dick move, but if you act without respect for yourself, don't expect respect from others.
2) Essentially, you are saying that our military isn't safe for females?
What do you think the military is for? The military is not a game. The military is not a petri dish for feminist fantasies. These people are trained killers, the least they do is fap to inappropriate selfies. Also, the military is not a safe place to be an attention whore. Sharing naked pictures some girl sent you is somehow dishonoring the Marine Corps, but taking them and sending or posting them on instagram for attention is totally honorable and soldierly? Don't take naked pictures of yourself and send them to people , especially Marines (Momma dog! Momma dog!). This isn't rocket science. The stalker guy should be arrested though.
You really have to wonder about modern society. This is straining at gnats while swallowing camels. Don't want to be a pornstar? Don't make porn. Sure as hell don't send it to horny guys who just got back from a year marching around the desert.
3) and these animals shouldn't be allowed back into society
Wow...words fail me. That is so messed up, in so many ways.
4) Or did I misunderstand your opinion of the American military male?
That's the least of your worries.
The crazy thing about this story is what a push over the COTMC is being. Enter the cuck generals to bend over backwards in service of an obvious fake scandal.
Let's see, who is pushing the scandal:
ABC news - Check
NBC - Check
CNN - Check
Who is the lawyer for one of the "victims"? Gloria Allred - Check!