[peeve23]

The only way to win this argument is to argue that women should be able to do anything that they can do equally as well or better than men.

If they can do the buttons on a Patriot Missile as well, then they should be permitted to.

[semaj]

"If they can do the buttons on a Patriot Missile as well, then they should be permitted to."

How about hand-to-hand or close-in combat? I've been on forced marches of 20+ miles with full combat load and their are some men that can barely handle it, let alone women. How about changing the tire on a 5ton truck? Humping the base plate for an 81mm mortar, or tearing apart and putting together a Mk19 and placing rounds on target? I have nothing against women, in fact I love mine to death and would gladly die for them, but placing women in combat is the height of cowardice and is an indication of the feminization of our society. We should be ashamed of the fact that we ever allowed our women folks to be placed in harms way. Real men would never allow for it.

[Alberta's Child]

The only way to win this argument is to argue that women should be able to do anything that they can do equally as well or better than men.

That doesn't explain why women compete separately even in cerebral competitive events like billiards and chess.

[IGOTMINE]

There's a problem with your "pushbutton" analogy. Let's use the Patriot Missile battery example. How much do you think all of that equipment weighs? How hard do you think it is to service those radar vehicles? What about all of that camouflage net? How do you think that gets put up?

What about onboard ship? Welllll, what happens if the ship gets hit? Who hauls all of those heavy fire hoses around? What about the P250 damage control pump?

Even in an era of "pushbutton" warfare, there is still plenty of need for brute physical strength.