![\"hotel](\"https:\/\/bibledude.net\/Hotel-Caribe-columbia-590x375.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<rant><\/p>\n
It makes my stomach turn.<\/p>\n
By now, I hope you\u2019ve heard something about the Secret Service\u2019 s little sex scandal in Columbia. In case you haven\u2019t, let me give you the quick version\u2026<\/p>\n
A team of Secret Service agents and other military personnel arrive in Cartagena, Columbia in preparation for a President Obama<\/a>\u2018s visit to meet with\u00a0Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to talk about trade and other pressing matters. Before the POTUS arrives, a dispute breaks out in the hotel where the agents and servicemen are staying. The result\u2026 11 Secret Service agents and 10 military members (5 from the Army Special Forces, 2 Marines, 2 Navy bomb removal specialists, and 1 Air Force member) caught in the middle of a sex scandal with 20 or 21 women (many of whom are prostitutes).<\/p>\n Yeah, bad move.<\/p>\n Everyone is talking about the potential security issues, and a few are even talking about the morality of it all (thinking about how many of these men are likely married).<\/p>\n Even fewer are talking about the possibility of some of these (prostitute) women being victims of human trafficking<\/a>, forced into this lifestyle by someone else.<\/p>\n But to me the biggest problem is how widespread this problem really is. The investigation and news cameras will focus on what happened at the Hotel Caribe as if it were an isolated incident.<\/p>\n But I\u2019m not buying it.<\/p>\n I have a hard time believing that a handful of otherwise saintly government employees decided to do something that\u2019s never been done before, and somehow found themselves in the middle of this unexpected mess.<\/p>\n I know this because before I was a Christian, I served overseas in the military. I know what that life is like. I\u2019ve walked down Whisper Alley in Okinawa. I know how a big part of the prostitution market in other countries where we have military bases caters to the American servicemen deployed there.<\/p>\n Human trafficking isn\u2019t a problem unless there are customers there to pay for the services these women are forced\u00a0provide.<\/p>\n And what\u2019s happening in Columbia is the proverbial tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n I have a crazy feeling that the meeting between President Obama and President Santos had a strange cloud hanging over it. I\u2019m sure there was an elephant in the room that may have hindered the conversations. Why is that?<\/p>\n Respect.<\/p>\n Or lack thereof.<\/p>\n That\u2019s our biggest problem with this whole thing. This one is the one that blew up and created an international scandal. But right now, all around the world, there are other agents and servicemen who are disrespecting their host nations by supporting the human trafficking sex industry.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure that the men involved with this incident in Columbia will be appropriately punished. But the silence about prostitution activity everywhere else is deafening.<\/p>\n THAT is what makes me sick.<\/p>\n \u201cI can speak for myself and \u2026 my fellow chiefs, we\u2019re embarrassed by what occurred in Colombia,\u201d Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference. \u201cSeveral of our members distracted the issue from what was a very important regional engagement for our president.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe let the boss down,\u201d Dempsey said. (Source: FoxNews.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n You got that right Gen. Dempsey. Now what are you going to do to make sure that it doesn\u2019t ever happen again\u2026 anywhere?<\/p>\n <\/rant><\/p>\n Sign the petition at Change.org<\/a> to ask the State Department and Joint Chiefs of Staff to stop military use of prostitutes in foreign countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cModern slavery \u2013 be it bonded labor, involuntary servitude, or sexual slavery \u2013 is a crime and cannot be tolerated in any culture, community, or country \u2026 [It] is an affront to our values and our commitment to human rights.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u2013 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n from Dan King: <\/strong>Christ-follower. husband. father. corporate training development guru. school of ministry and missions instructor. social media editor for thehighcalling.org<\/a>. blogger at bibledude.net<\/a>. co-founder and media director for the activistfaith.org<\/a> movement. social media director for help end local poverty<\/a>. Originally posted here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <rant> It makes my stomach turn. By now, I hope you\u2019ve heard something about the Secret Service\u2019 s little sex scandal in Columbia. In case you haven\u2019t, let me give you the quick version\u2026 A team of Secret Service agents and other military personnel arrive in Cartagena, Columbia in preparation for a President Obama\u2018s visit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worldview"],"yoast_head":"\n