Turning women into cannon fodder

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | April 11, 2003 | Robert Knight

[Non-Sequitur]

There have been over 145 combat related deaths in Iraqi Freedom. All were volunteers, all knew what they were getting in to, and all were tragic. Why is the loss of Pvt. Piestawa's any worse the men's? I would rather none of them died in the service of their country. But I value the service of the women and mourn their loss exactly as much as their male counterparts.

[Paul C. Jesup]

You reveal that you want women to die on the front lines because you are too much of a craven coward to do the job yourself. If I could get my hands on you, you'd shed plenty tears for them.

No, it is not that I am a coward, but that I am a bitter young white man who sees no true happiness or success in the future thanks to political correctness, socialist schools/colleges, socialist/government supported and created anti-white/anti-male laws (including the draft), and increasingly higher taxes (mainly social-security) which I will be forced to pay so that some old geezers can live it up without working.

And to top it all off all the stress created by all this will probably send me to a early grave, via a heart-attack. I doubt I will live to see 40.

Now taking all this into account, I could careless about women who WILLINGLY join the military and know the risks that job brings.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Les Aspin redefined the word "combat" so that women would be allowed jobs that they were restricted from before.

Typical liberal newspeak BS.

[Lorianne]

What part of orders don't you understand? Your choices end when you join the military.

Which they know when they VOLUNTEER for military service. Only about 11% of the military is women. Which means that the vast vast vast majority of women don't VOLUNTEER for military service. The ones who do volunteer know the risks, as do the men.

[Lorianne]

What part of orders don't you understand? Your choices end when you join the military.

Which they know when they VOLUNTEER for military service. Only about 11% of the military is women. Which means that the vast vast vast majority of women don't VOLUNTEER for military service. The ones who do volunteer know the risks, as do the men.

[TracyLynn]

"But if you raise the standards to be equal between the sexes"

The standards are lower for women so more women can pass basic training.The services have quota's to fill too, you know.And of course they don't want to be accused of being sexist for not allowing females to pass just because of the pesky fact that most aren't up to standard.(the male standard that is)
My husband sends home at least 15-20 guys a cycle for not measuring up to standard in basic infantry training here at FT.Benning.
It would be great if the females were tested as rigorously and held to the same high standard as males, instead of being allowed to slide just because they're "a girl".

[Gnarly]

Perhaps I failed to initially grasp the depths of subtlety of your sarcasm, or perhaps I felt that the item in question should have been obvious.

It should be obvious to all that if married men were excluded from the military there would be virtually no military; and if there were, it would definitely be a Junior Varsity.

[Blue Collar Christian]

I want women in the military, the more, the better. The more non-combat jobs they can fill, the more men are freed up to go to combat. Combat support units count as combat.

There most certainly are some very rare women who could be just as capable as almost any man in combat, and I would not be so presumptuous as to say I could set that standard. But a vast majority of women do not have the physical or emotional make-up that men have for combat.

I have never seen a man(though I have heard of it)cry in front of everybody when criticized sternly, but every woman I have seen has cried. If you have not noticed the difference in physical characteristics between men and women, you need to get out more.

[jwalsh07]

Every soldier, male or female, in any combat arms or combat support unit should have a primary MOS of 11b. If you can't make the forced march with full ruck and gear, you can't be in those units.

The Army can learn something here from the Marine Corps.

[Non-Sequitur]

So are you saying that the women are incapable of doing the jobs that they have been assigned to because their physical standards in boot camp are lower?

[Blue Collar Christian]

Many steps are involved. Do your own research.

[MikeAtTheShore]

"Take 2nd Lt. Sarah Ewing Skinner, for instance. With her "finger on the trigger of her M-16, [she] gives the order to move forward as troops under her command prepared to storm 20 derelict buildings where die-hard Iraqi defenders may have taken refuge," the Associated Press reports in an article headlined "Not for men only." Now isn't that special? Women are supposed to be exempted from combat, and yet they are going house to house just like the grizzled Vic Morrow and his squad in the old "Combat" TV show"

I agree with everything you posted. It seems in all of these articles the writers never ask the women soldiers their opinion. Why? Let's find out what Lt Skinner thinks.

They probably don't want to hear the answer.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Chivalrous men regret the loss of female life moreso than male life. We are not ashamed of this. We are proud.

[Blue Collar Christian]

When one enlists, he/she is under orders for anything doing. I agree that a woman going into the military is volunteering but should know that at this point she can be "ordered into harms way" just the same as the man who volunteers. If either disobeys orders, then military discipline comes along and separates them from the service under less than honorable conditions.

The women in the support units in Iraq were ordered into harms way.

[iconoclast]

The author reveals he is a cad

No, he reveals himself as chivalrous man. Sadly, a truly endangered species and one much more precious than the toads and insects our culture usually concerns itself with.

[Hila]

Our armed forces must stop sending women to the front lines. Women are not meant to be in the midst of battles, they are great at support positions, though. Women have no business in warrior modes.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Every single female soldier I have spoken with agrees with me.

[Non-Sequitur]

Chivalrous men regret the loss of female life moreso than male life. We are not ashamed of this. We are proud.

Professionals recognize other professionals, regardless of gender, and regret their loss equally. I had the privilage to serve with a number of women in the service, officers and enlisted alike. The overwhelming majority were competent, dedicated individuals capable of performing their duties as well as their male counterparts. I didn't believe that they needed any special protection, quite the contrary.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Your gender neutral view does not coincide with reality.

[Gnarly]

"Every soldier, male or female, in any combat arms or combat support unit should have a primary MOS of 11b. If you can't make the forced march with full ruck and gear, you can't be in those units.

The Army can learn something here from the Marine Corps."

Good Point! As I understand it, the revision to the "Risk Rule" as changed by Clinton/Aspin allowed women to be put in many combat support/combat service positions previously denied to them. This meant that women could be placed in such units at Division/Separate Brigade, units which by function are in combat areas. Along with this move came the pressure to have C0-ED basic in the services; pressure the USMC has wisely resisted. As denied by some here, there ARE separate standards for women in basic and throughout their service.

As has been proven in many situations, combat support and service support troops have been forced to fight as infantry. I agree that CS/CSS troops at division/brigade levels should be primarily trained as 11B.

There is a definite place for women in the military, but not in units where their presence interferes with combat/potential combat roles.

Regarding those who claim that Bush has done nothing about the status of women in combat: This administration has been rather busy since 9/11 to deal with all details. One promising move has been Rumsfield's action to redefine DACOWITS (Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service) which has in the past been a notoriously feminist organization in the Shroeder tradition.