Helen Benedict, a professor of journalism at Columbia University, is
the author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in
Iraq
, forthcoming from Beacon Press in April, 2009. Her articles on female soldiers won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism in 2008. This article is based on Benedict's two years of interviewing Iraq War veterans and her research for the book.

Blog Entries by Helen Benedict

Women Soldiers Finally Get the Attention They Deserve?

2 Comments | Posted August 19, 2009 | 01:34 PM (EST)


Nearly six and a half years into the Iraq War, women soldiers are finally getting some attention in the mainstream press.

Last Sunday and Monday, August 16 and 17, the New York Times ran two front page articles on the subject: "G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier as War...

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The Pentagon's Annual Report on Sexual Assualt in the Military, or, How to Lie with Statistics

Posted March 20, 2009 | 05:33 PM (EST)


The Pentagon celebrated the sixth anniversary of the Iraq War this week by releasing its annual report on military sexual assault.

The numbers are disturbing. Reports of sexual assault have risen 8 percent in military as a whole. In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, they have shot up by...

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Violent Veterans, the Big Picture

Posted January 14, 2009 | 03:50 PM (EST)


Iraq War veterans seem to be killing and hurting themselves and others more than the veterans of any other war in American history.

Only two weeks ago, the New York Times reported nine murders and a rising number of rapes and other violent crimes against women committed by Iraq...

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