Sex attacks 'a cancer' on military "I took my eye off the ball": General Martin Dempsey (third right) testifies before the US Senate committee. The epidemic of sexual assault within US armed forces has reached the point that the Senate's premier war hero has warned he could no longer recommend young women enlist. Republican senator and former presidential nominee John McCain, a career navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, described his loss of faith as the Senate armed services committee debated at least seven proposals to fight the scourge, including changing the military chain of command over the objections of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Our witnesses have characterised the problem as a crisis and a cancer that threatens the very fabric of our military - and I couldn't agree more," Senator McCain said. "Just last night a woman came to me and said her daughter wanted to join the military and [asked] could I give my unqualified support for her doing so?" he said. I could not. With the military top brass arrayed before the 26-member panel, critics led by Democrat senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill demanded they act faster to end a male-dominated culture that often discourages victims from reporting sexual assaults for fear of retaliation, social isolation or dismissal from the service. A survey released last month showed at least 26,000 service members suffered some type of unwanted sexual advance last year but barely 3000 had reported it. Senators from both parties urged the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consult with allies such as Israel, Canada, Australia and Britain to explore the benefits of changing the chain of command by having military commanders hand decisions on sexual assault cases to trained military prosecutors, rather than deciding themselves whether an accused soldier faces non-judicial punishment or a full court martial. "Not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the arse and a rape, because they merge all of these crimes together [in official reporting]," Senator Gillibrand said. Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military leaders opposed stripping unit commanders of powers that help to maintain unit cohesion and discipline. General Dempsey attributed the problem, in part, to commanders' failure to focus on the issue during a 12-year period that saw repeated deployment of units to Iraq and Afghanistan. "I took my eye off the ball a bit in the commands that I had," he said. When four line commanders supported maintaining commanders' control of sex assault cases, they drew sharp reactions from senators McCaskill and Gillibrand. "All four of you seem to be fully supportive of the status quo," Senator McCaskill said. The status quo is not acceptable. Hearst Newspapers