Free Republic

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he would “feel not only comfortable but proud” if he had a daughter serving in a front-line combat position in the U.S. military. … Sen. McCain has seven children, including four sons and three daughters. His son Jimmy served in the Marine Corps and two others—Jack and Doug—are or were Navy pilots. …

Military-readiness advocate Elaine Donnelly warns that the Obama administration’s decision to put women in ground-combat roles amounts to “social engineering to achieve a political end in the name of diversity.” She adds that the policy shift means “lives could be lost unnecessarily, not just women, but men.” Donnelly’s organization, the Center for Military Readiness, released a 42-page report earlier this week exploring the unintended consequences of putting women on the front lines. “It will do great harm to women in the military, especially those who will find themselves in the infantry—something there’s no indication they wanted,” Donnelly said Wednesday in...

Sen. John McCain supports allowing women in combat, but says it remains critical for the military to uphold the same high standards that made it the strongest in the world. On Wednesday, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that women will be permitted in combat, potentially opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and elite Special Forces jobs to women as well as men. … “I respect and support Secretary Panetta’s decision to lift the ban on women serving in combat,” McCain said. “The fact is that American women are already serving in harm’s way today all over the world...