Would Bush want his girls on Iraq's front line?

U.S. News- Washington Whispers ^ | 11/24/03 | Paul Bedard

[Pokey78]

It's a question every parent with a daughter in military service, or considering it, has mulled since Pfc. Jessica Lynch, bloodied and possibly raped, was rescued: What the heck were she and other female soldiers doing in the line of fire? The answer is simple, though little publicized: Rules changed in the Clinton years to get women closer to the front. "This is exactly what we warned would happen years ago," says Elaine Donnelly, head of the Center for Military Readiness, a group devoted to limiting female combat exposure. "We need brave women in the military," she says, "but no one's daughter should have to suffer an ordeal" like 19-year-old Lynch's. Even some Pentagon officials agree and would like to see new limits on female combat roles. But it's all up to President Bush, the father of twin 21-year-old daughters, who has yet to weigh in on the issue. Donnelly's attempts at an Oval Office visit have been ignored, so she has started a petition to get Bush to dump the rules. "He needs to give direction," says Donnelly. "We're tugging on his sleeve."

[independentmind]

"Possibly raped?"

[Enterprise]

"Would Bush want his girls on Iraq's front line?"

Well, I don't want President Bush's daughters on the front line, or anyone else's daughters.

[dagnabbit]

How old's his nephew George P? Shouldn't he be in uniform by now?

[Cobra64]

Would BJ Willie want Chelsea Clinton on the front line?

Exactly. This is a stupid question as to whether a President's girls be on the front line. Stupid. Imagine 50 CIA agents mulling around protecting the Prez's daughter(s)? Whoever wrote this article is a dolt.

[Consort]

Would BJ Willie want Chelsea Clinton on the front line?

Would Webb?

[Ed_in_NJ]

What a thoroughly ridiculous article!

What kind of fool would want ANYONE on any 'front line' anywhere?

[tbpiper]

Give her the kevlar pot, 15 poud SAW, spare barrel, 600 extra rounds, and the 65 pounds of body armour, 120 degree daytime heat and tell her you don't care what time of the month it is, she's going to have to keep up with everyone else. Oh and tell her femininism has done her this 'favor'.

[Cobra64]

Imagine 50 CIA agents mulling around protecting the Prez's daughter(s)

I forgot to add, in a COMBAT zone.

[yoe]

"Would Bush want his girls on Iraq's front line?

What an idiotic question! No one wants to see their sons and daughters, wives or husbands on the front line. When we fight for freedom - everyone is on the front line, some taking more heat than others, but we should stand shoulder to shoulder in this fight against terrorism. This is hardly the time for wishy-washy appeasement type of governing – Support you President and Support your soldiers. Cracks about Iraq not being a success is little more than the whining of liberals who want to see a failure there just as they continue to complain about the economy here while watching it get better and better. These useful idiots make me sick!

[Thebaddog]

Hillary and the gyrllz know that the path to advancement is through military action. IMO, the young women like Lynch are cannon fodder for Hillary's ambitions and you can be sure that she wouldn't send Chelsea to the front lines.

[Toespi]

Since the military is voluntary, I would assume that it would be their decision. These liberals forget that this is not 1970 and the draft is no more. They still try to use this crap as propaganda. What do these families think when they enter the military that their kids are going to summer camp?

[Toespi]

That would sure scare the hell out of the enemy.

[JoeSchem]

I wouldn't want my nephew to go to war. Even young men face the danger of being maimed, disfigured, and paralyzed in addition to being killed. Wars are the price of freedom, but let's not pretend that it's easier for one sex than another. It's hell for everybody.

[KantianBurke]

Dumb question. No one wants to see their loved ones in the midst of a battlefield. Now if the question were worded "would President Bush engage in pre-emptive operations if he knew well that his own daughters might be in the mix" that's another question. Not every father can or should handle having their SONS let alone daughters fight.

[sunryse]

>Since the military is voluntary, I would assume that it >would be their decision. These liberals forget that this >is not 1970 and the draft is no more. They still try to >use this crap as propaganda. What do these families think >when they enter the military that their kids are going to >summer camp?

I read an article right after they found Lynch titled "She just wanted money for college". So apparently these parents think the military is a really big welfare agency. Well, yeah, the GI bill works great, but it's also a gamble that we might go to WAR?!?! I mean we all want peace, but is the president supposed to avoid combat because "somebody might get hurt?" The only societies that take that attitude are the ones who no longer exist.

[independentmind]

Not every father can or should handle having their SONS let alone daughters fight.

What a lovely sentiment. You realize of course that for much of this nation's history, fathers and mothers were proud to see their sons serve their country? And most of the time, the parents had no choice in the matter at all. Deal with it.

[KantianBurke]

calm down there. who peed in your cheerios? my point was that its difficult for parents to send their kids off to war. In a perfect world they wouldn't have to ever. If Bush's daughters were in the Gulf, he'd probably be no different in his sentiments. Sheesh!

[Nick Danger]

"no one's daughter should have to suffer an ordeal"

No, only sons should have to suffer ordeals. Men aren't really human, so it's OK if they get shot, stabbed, raped in the butt, turned into paraplegics... after all, who cares, right?

What goes on in the head of Elaine Donnelly is not the "soft bigotry of low exepectations," it's the hard bigotry of treating others as expendable sub-humans.

Elaine Donnelly needs to learn the fine art of allowing chivalrous men to make these statements for her. When women say them, it's so self-serving that it's repulsive to watch.