Parker: 'What the Hell Was Jessica Lynch Doing in the Army?'

NewsMax.com ^ | 11/19/03 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, Kathleen Parker explained that Jessica Lynch joined the Army to get the college tuition she needed to become a kindergarten teacher.

Lynch wasn't looking for an assignment the Army never told her might put her into the combat situation that nearly cost her life, and left her shattered and crippled.

And Lynch was put into that situation because the Pentagon has caved in to feminist pressure.

Many veterans and observers have protested Lynch's "hero" status, and Parker feels Jessica Lynch's book is far from the story of a regular soldier, but rather "... the hijacked fairy tale of a scared, ‘prissy’ little girl who wanted to be taken care of."

So what was Lynch doing in the Army?

Parker says that Lynch's story offers Americans, and especially women, "a cautionary tale: A 5-foot-4-inch, 100-pound woman has no place in a war zone nor, arguably, in the military."

Parker goes further: "The feminist argument that women can do anything men can do is so absurd that it seems unworthy of debate. That some women are as able as some men in some circumstances hardly constitutes a defense for "girling" down our military - and putting men at greater risk - so that the Jessica Lynches can become kindergarten teachers."

Noting that Lynch was brutally raped while in captivity, Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, writes in the November 14 edition of National Review Online: "Experts in the field have noted that female captives, unlike their male counterparts, are almost always violated sexually."

That, she says, is a risk against which the Army does not warn women recruits. "We need brave women in the military, but no one's daughter should have to suffer an ordeal comparable to that experienced by Pfc. Jessica Lynch," Donnelly, wrote. "Not in the name of other women's careers, military necessity, or anything else."

Like Parker, Donnelly writes that many Americans also may wonder how Lynch got to the frontlines to begin with, and goes on to explain that "Under rules issued by the Clinton administration, female soldiers in support units are now being forced into areas involving a 'substantial risk of capture.'"

This policy, she notes, "is inconsistent with privacy rules that deny information about what happens to women who are captured. "

A petition now being circulated by Americans for the Military ( www.americansforthemilitary.com) asks President Bush to reverse the Clinton rules.

It also requests that Bush take action "to end admittedly inefficient Army co-ed basic training, gender-based recruiting quotas, and overly generous pregnancy policies that subsidize and increase single parenthood in the military. All of these problematic policies were enacted during the Clinton years. They can be revised in the same way — long before the next deployment begins."

Parker quotes New York Times arts columnist Frank Rich as noting that Lynch is not so much "a symbol of Bush administration propaganda," as she is a victim of the PC military career myth sold to young women through feminist propaganda.

Parker writes that it’s a pity a girl like Lynch had to be ‘broken’ to remind Americans that the Army is not an arbitrary career choice. As one Army officer told Parker: "Our job is to take human life on behalf of the nation."

[grumple]

'What the Hell Was Jessica Lynch Doing in the Army?'

Uh...feminists and the "Women in Combat" agenda during the Clinton administration (all for the sake of the vote and feminizing the military) comes to mind...

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Don't they have kitchens in the army?

[cruiserman]

A minor point, but I thought I read that Lynch was not raped.

[No Blue States]

Absolutely, We can win our wars without putting our women in battle.

Reverse anything clinton ever did.

[Servant of the 9]

Our present system of women in the military is a farce.

I have no objection to women anywhere as long as they meet the same rigerous physical standards as men. No more wimping down physical requirements for positions. Jane Wayne or out.

In truth, I think we are going to have to lose a major Naval Vessel before that happens.
If you read the reports on the fire on the Forrestal CVA-59 in 1967 you will see that if it happened today, with women in the crew under current physical strength standards, they would never have been able to manage the fire fighting and damage control and the ship would have been lost.

So9

[gitmo]

Like Parker, Donnelly writes that many Americans also may wonder how Lynch got to the frontlines to begin with, and goes on to explain that "Under rules issued by the Clinton administration, female soldiers in support units are now being forced into areas involving a 'substantial risk of capture.'"

This policy, she notes, "is inconsistent with privacy rules that deny information about what happens to women who are captured. "

Can anyone explain this excerpt? I'm pretty tired, and cannot follow this logic.

[ladtx]

There is absolutely no reason for women to be in combat or combat support units, PERIOD. The feminists and feminist apologists can cry and whine all they want, they cannot come up with one good reason, (key word here is "good").

[Eagle Eye]

They are mostly contracted. At least overseas.

[Chummy]

Let me begin by saying I appreciate what Jessica Lynch underwent, and that I feel badly for her ordeal.

That noted, like Parker, this is among the comments I've made about not only Jessica Lynch, but anyone who joins the military without understanding that to which they are committing themselves: the defense of our nation and her people, including to the level of risking one's own life.

If you want a college education, study hard and work to earn a scholarship, or borrow money with a student loan and repay it later. Don't enlist and presume you will not be found in harm's way in your tour.

Lynch's actions placed at risk a number of our other troops who found themselves in a mission to rescue her, and it is that group of individuals in which if one looks for a hero, one will find many.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Last I heard, her younger sister was still planning to enlist (and probably has by now). Am I supposed to believe she "wasn't warned"? Women are not stupid and helpless. They know bad things happen in wars.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Bush has had almost three years to reverse it, yet hasn't. He is just as culpable as clintoon.

[BadAndy]

"What the Hell Was Jessica Lynch Doing in the Army?'

Exactly, I've seen tougher girls in junior high school. If she could get through basic training it must be a piece of cake.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Medical examinations and reports indicate that she was anally raped after her vehicle wrecked and before they brought her to the hospital. She states that she was unconsious and thankfully has no memory of it.

[Sunshine Sister]

That means we put women in danger and when they have bad things happen to them we can't tell. The point is to keep women out of danger so there is nothing to report.

[Digger]

How many women become pregnant while on duty? I know it is larger than one would imagine. Again thank the feminazies. Remember - The real enemy is within.

[gitmo]

The point is to keep women out of danger so there is nothing to report.

That's bizarre.

[Luke]

We had this problem solved during WWII with the WACS, WAVES, and SPARS.

The president who put females in combat situations is a coward. If females want to serve on active duty ...fine! BUT not in combat.

You rely on the man to your right and left to protect you. Put a woman in the equation and the system of protection falls apart because everyone would be trying to protect the woman rather kill the enemy.

God made woman to be a "helpmate" for man NOT a soldier.

[Sunshine Sister]

You have a good point. The feminization of the military has cost this nation a ton of money.

[Jemian]

the Army never told her might put her into the combat situation

She joined the Army. While I don't think women belong in combat areas, anyone joining a military unit ought to understand the possibility of fighting.