[MikefromOhio]

On April 18, Pfc. Huff's Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad, and she was killed. Posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, she was buried at Arlington National Cemetery recently. She was 18.

I have a problem right there. Roadside bombs are being considered combat and thick of the fighting. It isn't. I don't know how to totally explain it, but more or less any McDonald's bag or toy or anything of the sort could and probably is a bomb. Chances are you aren't getting shot at nor are there any real threats reported in the area.

what the author is questioning is whether women should even be in Iraq and maybe even the military altogether.

[68skylark]

"The first lesson of effective counterinsurgency is respect for local peoples..."

I don't know if that's true. One of the first lessons of effective counterinsurgency is a good understanding of local culture* -- that's different from "respect."

I don't think the point is trivial. The way Muslims barbarians mistreat women is directly related to the way they mistreat each other (and the Western world) in other ways. If we can show them a different way for men and women to get along we're teaching them a lesson about how to act more civilized.

* The relevant Special Operations Imperative says, "Understand the operational environment," and that includes culture. It doesn't really say anything about "respect."

[Fog Nozzle]

Do women belong in the thick of Indy?

Do women belong in the thick of firefighting?

Do women belong in the thick of law enforcement?

Do women belong in the thick of (insert your favorite dangerous activity here)?

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Question: "Do US women belong in the thick of the fighting?"

Response: No.

Comment: However, nothing, absolutely nothing, can resist holy equality.

[jonwill]

If I didn't hear whining from even the most conservative women I know when they believe that someone "unfairly" gave them less equal treatment that a man would get, I would say keep em out of combat, IF I didn't hear that...

Since I do hear it when woman want to use unfair treatment to their advantage , and we don't have a need for breeders as does europe, I say treat em equal and put em in full combat...

[BnBlFlag]

Any country that is so degenerate as to have it's women do its fighting is not worth saving.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

No !

[rlmorel]

No.

[iconoclast]

Our insane, anti-traditional, feminist culture (including Rumsfeld's Pentagon) has gone so far over the edge that I'm at the point where I don't give a sh!t anymore.

The only fight left is NOT to allow women to be drafted.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Do US women belong in the thick of the fighting?

Hmmmm God forbid it ever makes it's way to our soil again But where do you think our woman would be if it did ?

Be ever Vigilant

[Busywhiskers]

NO....next question.