Fox News contributor Allen West agreed with radio host Michael Savage's assertion that “Khmer Rouge feminists” are attempting a “coup” against the military by proposing to change the military chain of command in sexual assault cases. West also used the sexual assault issue to criticize liberals for wanting to “put women into combat arms units” “so that they can meet some socially engineering goal or egalitarian goal.”
Savage, who hosts Cumulus Media Networks' Savage Nation, began the June 4 segment by playing audio of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) talking about changing the military chain of command in sexual assault cases. After saying Gillibrand “sounds like a college chick at a dorm,” Savage told guest West: “When I watch these Khmer Rouge feminists try to take over the military, this looked like an attempted coup to me, Colonel West.”
West replied: “Nah, you're absolutely right and that's a big concern that I have because when you start to get -- you know, I understand civilian oversight of the military. We all understand that as all officers who served in uniform. But when you start to have this interjection of, you know, political, you know, will against, you know, the military, good order and discipline, where you start to try to usurp the commanders' authority and I guess replace it with some type of political, legal officers, and things of that nature. Then the next thing you know, it goes from just dealing with this, you know, sexual assault thing to, you know, making decisions on the battlefield.”
Savage and West went on to discuss whether sexual assaults in the military are actually a problem. When West said that “there may be a problem, without a doubt, with sexual assault,” Savage interrupted by claiming that sexual assault claims can include men asking women out for “a beer.” He then asked West, “how many of them are fraudulent claims? We don't know, do we?”
“No we don't,” West answered. “And furthermore, Dr. Savage, we don't know how many of them are female against male, you know, sexual assaults, or same-sex sexual assaults. So we don't have those numbers either.”
The Department of Defense recently released its “Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military” and found that up to 26,000 service members may have been the victim of some form of sexual assault. The Army Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Program has stated that "[s]exual assault is defined as intentional sexual contact, characterized by use of force, physical threat or abuse of authority, or when the victim does not or cannot consent."
Savage proceeded to launch into a screed about how military sexual assaults are “such trivial nonsense” and wondered why the U.S. Senate is having a hearing on “this rubbish.”
West responded by claiming that it's because Democrats control the U.S. Senate, while Republicans control the “House Armed Services Committee, where you would have more poignant questions. You know, you have the hearings about Benghazi.”
He criticized former President Bill Clinton and Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to achieve and hold the rank of lieutenant general, for breaking down separations between men and women, and officers and enlisted personnel.
The former Republican congressman also linked military sexual assaults to putting women in combat.
West stated: “But then ask yourself, now why would you want to put women into combat arms units, and the infantry units, and fighting units ... Unfortunately, there are some that believe G.I. Jane is not just a movie, it's something that could actually be implemented. And there may be exceptions to the rule, but you should not make a change in the standards, which I think is what you've heard General Martin Dempsey talk about doing just so that they can meet some socially engineering goal or egalitarian goal of the left, the liberal progressives.”
West was recently hired by Fox News after losing his reelection bid in November.
From the June 4 edition of Cumulus Media Networks' The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: This is a U.S. senator. It sounds like a college chick at a dorm. But unfortunately and sadly, this is the state of our Congress today. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was the leader of a campaign to usurp the chiefs of the U.S. military, take away their command structure, and turn it over to a group of Khmer Rouge under Barack Obama. I told you that -- see you're focused on the IRS, and the harassment of the reporters, which is a good thing. I warned you, I warned you what Axelrod and Obama were likely to do, which is to go after some bigger fish. And you thought you had Obama on the ropes. You have no idea. They will not be happy 'til they decimate every aspect of this country.
Colonel Allen West, welcome to the Savage Nation, been a long time. How are you, my friend?
WEST: Dr. Savage, I'm doing very well, and my wife Angela, and the girls, send their best to you and your wife.
SAVAGE: Well thank you. I remember when you were at our house in Florida years ago.
But listen, I got very upset today as a nonmilitary man. When I watch these Khmer Rouge feminists try to take over the military, this looked liked an attempted coup to me, Colonel West.
WEST: Nah, you're absolutely right and that's a big concern that I have because when you start to get -- you know, I understand civilian oversight of the military. We all understand that as all officers who served in uniform. But when you start to have this interjection of, you know, political, you know, will against, you know, the military, good order and discipline, where you start to try to usurp the commanders' authority and I guess replace it with some type of political, legal officers, and things of that nature. Then the next thing you know, it goes from just dealing with this, you know, sexual assault thing to, you know, making decisions on the battlefield. But --
SAVAGE: Thank you. Exactly. And that's exactly what they're doing here.
WEST: There is an assault against the United States military.
SAVAGE: Yes.
WEST: We've seen it with the lifting of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You know, the thing about the military, is that we conform personal behavior to the military. When the military announced being told they have to conform to personal behavior, that takes you down a very bad path. When you understand a guy like [Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder and president] Mikey Weinstein, who is meeting with officials in the Department of Defense --
SAVAGE: Oh don't, don't mention his name. This man is single handedly pulling the military into the gutter.
WEST: Yeah. Yes.
SAVAGE: I don't know how this man is -- I don't know how the man is not stopped. He has done more damage to the military than let us say our worst enemy, in my estimation.
WEST: Nah, you're absolutely --
SAVAGE: He's a single man who is borderline psychotic in my estimation. He's a diehard, fanatic atheist, and he's on the warpath against the U.S. military. And no one has been able to stop this psycho.
WEST: Well I believe that right now you don't have people that really understand, you know, national security and defense, when you look at the decimation of the readiness of the military, and the morale, you know, there may be a problem, without a doubt, with sexual assault, but look --
SAVAGE: Wait, hold up. Colonel West, let's stop there. Let's start with the realities. Am I mistaken in assuming the following. When you say sexual assault, according to the new liberal interpretation of such a phrase, does that not include, “Hey honey, let's go for a beer?” Could she turn him in and say that was a sexual assault because it was an unwanted advance?
WEST: Well she could. I mean that's the --
SAVAGE: Alright, so amongst the 23,000 -- amongst the 23,000 so-called cases that the Commander-in-Chief Obama talked about last, two weeks ago, at a commencement address, how many of them are fraudulent claims? We don't know, do we?
WEST: No we don't. And furthermore, Dr. Savage, we don't know how many of them are female against male, you know, sexual assaults, or same-sex sexual assaults. So we don't have those numbers either.
SAVAGE: But why are we focused on such trivial nonsense instead of a congressional hearing, a senate hearing, a senate hearing, on the deaths of the 20 Navy SEALs, who were sent to their deaths aboard that helicopter, an old helicopter. Or on Major Nidal Hasan, why he's not been prosecuted and put to death yet, the Fort Hood massacre. Or the penetration of radical Islam into the military. That's what I would like to see a hearing on instead of this rubbish.
WEST: Well that's the difference between the Senate Armed Services Committee, which of course you have Harry Reid, and Democrat leadership, as opposed to the House Armed Services Committee, where you would have more poignant questions. You know, you have the hearings about Benghazi. I don't think you've had that over on the Senate Armed Services side of the House, so there is a big difference in who is the majority in those respective houses, being the House of Representatives or the Senate.
SAVAGE: But this is why I'm making such an issue of it. When I saw military chiefs grilled on sexual assault, when I know most of the sexual assault cases are invented, I know it for a fact. You know it, and I know it. You can change the definition of anything to turn it into something it isn't. And when you start saying that asking a woman out on a date and her saying, “Oh I didn't want to go on a date with him, I felt threatened, I felt uncomfortable.” They're now calling that sexual assault. Where does this end? It ends with the death of the military. It ends with the military in the hands of the Khmer Rouge under Obama.
WEST: Well it's interesting because once upon a time, you know you had some very strict regulations as far as interaction between males and females, you know, and once upon a time officers could not have anything to do with enlisted, you know, ranks.
SAVAGE: You mean until Bill CIinton came along?
WEST: Like during the time of Bill Clinton and Claudia Kennedy, who was a major general at the time. I think a lieutenant general, actually. They started to try to break down those, you know, those separations, and now they're starting to talk about, you know, too much of this assault, too much, you know, unnecessary relations.
But then ask yourself, now why would you want to put women into combat arms units, and the infantry units, and fighting units --
SAVAGE: Because that's a furtherance of the leftist takeover of the military. That's why they're trying to push women into forward, forward placement combat units. What are women going to do in the Navy SEALs or the U.S. Marines in an advanced base and an outpost. If a guy leans over and says, “Can I have a smoke on your cigarette,” while he's sitting there with a machine gun, what, are they going to call that a sexual assault?
WEST: Well, that's one of the big problems. You know, unfortunately, there are some that believe G.I. Jane is not just a movie, it's something that could actually be implemented. And there may be exceptions to the rule, but you should not make a change in the standards, which I think is what you've heard General Martin Dempsey talk about doing just so that they can meet some socially engineering goal or egalitarian goal of the left, the liberal progressives.