Dale Green ’s family thought the military had been good for him — until he was convicted of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her and her family . His family doesn’t understand, but science blogger Greg Laden has a hypothesis . Green’s aunt told the court at his sentencing hearing : “I don’t know. We did not send a rapist and murderer to Iraq,” Ruth said. “I don’t know how he got there, but that’s not what we sent.” Laden suggests that, in some way, Green’s aunt might be right. Men, by and large, have a rape switch. All men are capable of rape. Most men are enculturated in a way that reduces rape, and in some societies it is probably true that most violent rape is carried out by individuals who are reasonably labeled as pathological. In other societies, this is not so true. In post war societies such as those described in …
