No solution to sexual slavery

In the areas surrounding the military bases in South Korea, clubs flourish. These clubs thrive because the American soldiers, who are thousands of miles away from their loved ones, seek comfort from these establishments in the form of wine, women and good times.\nThere is nothing wrong with the young soldiers trying to relax on their few hours off duty. In fact, it is critical that these soldiers have the ability to escape from the tremendous stress of an overseas deployment. However, there is something very wrong with the source of their leisure.\nA large number of the women providing "good times" in these clubs are sex slaves. They have been purchased like livestock and forced to prostitute themselves for the financial gain of the club owners.\nIn an attempt to battle this plague, the Army has placed patrols in the area to ensure that American servicemen are not being endangered at these locations. The Army has also placed a number of these clubs on a list of places where U.S. soldiers are prohibited from going. The majority of them are located within the notorious red-light district where brothels abound and sex and sin are the currency of the streets according to The Army Times.\nThis is not a total solution. Some believe that the patrols do not in fact protect the American troopers. Rather, they see these patrols as doing something different entirely. They see these patrols as providing protection for the club owners who propagate this slavery.\nThe Army is considering a next step. The Department of Defense is contemplating requiring annual instruction for the servicemen who are deployed into areas such as Korea on how to recognize human slavery and trafficking. The packets for this instruction are already being prepared through intelligence officers for the department.\nI do not believe that these meager steps go far enough. If we have knowledge of slavery, it is our duty to eradicate it.\nArmy code lists the seven Army values, which include duty and integrity. Integrity is defined as doing "what's right, legally and morally."\nIn the code, General J. Lawton Collins, former Army chief of staff, stated, "The American people rightly look to their military leaders not only to be skilled in the technical aspects of the profession of arms, but also to be men of integrity."\nAs for the Army value of duty, it depicts the epitome of all our laws that makeup our civil and moral obligations. We expect that everyone should, at least, do what they are supposed to do.\nThe values of duty and integrity tell us that it is our responsibility to end slavery. Having battled with the evils of slavery ourselves, how can we look the other way when this monster rears its ugly head in our midst?\nWe cannot pretend that placing clubs on a list will somehow magically make the cancer of slavery vanish. We cannot merely patrol an area and hope that evil runs away from the majesty surrounding our uniformed patrol.\nHow can we believe these few actions will save the unfortunate women who are being forced to live their lives as slaves to the filth of our world?\nThe simple answer is that we cannot. It is repugnant to the very essence of our being. We are the land of the free. We send our soldiers into battle to fight and die for the principles of liberty and justice. It goes against our grain to be passive in this arena.\nI am diametrically opposed to permitting this plague to persist. We must take action. We must use our forces to ensure that all people are free from the bonds of slavery.