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View Full Version : Iraq war redefines role of women in US military



LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 08:40 PM
May these brave woman prove just how capable woman can be in war and destroy one more sexist prejudice.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070306/ts_alt_afp/womenusiraqmilitary;_ylt=Ar6_HnLR5NyIgijTqWm2aGis0 NUE

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The war in Iraq, which has killed or wounded more US women in combat than any other conflict, has redefined their role in the military and triggered a rethink of their place on the front line.

Women in the US military are barred from belonging to ground combat units under rules drawn up by the Pentagon more than a decade ago and are limited to serving on surface warships and in attack aircraft.

But Afghanistan and Iraq, where the lack of any clear front lines as such has drawn many US military women directly into the line of fire, have become proving grounds for female soldiers in battle.

"The Iraq war marks a turning point for women in the military," Lori Manning, a retired Navy captain who heads the Women in the Military Project at the Women's Research and Education Institute near Washington, told AFP.

"These two wars, if they've done nothing else, they have shown that women can be quite effective in ground combat," she added.

"In Iraq, women are certainly engaging in defensive ground combat, if not more, and they are doing it very well.

"So all the horrors that people used to predict about men going to pieces if women were injured, or the American public not being able to bear it if women were killed, those things haven't happened."

There are about 150,000 women currently enrolled in the US Army. Eighty-three have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, and more than 500 have been wounded, according to Pentagon figures. About 70 of those killed were in Iraq, as were the majority of those wounded.

While the Army maintains it has honored its combat policy concerning female soldiers, the guerrilla war taking place in Iraq, along with a shortage of trained troops and an increasing number of women in senior military positions, have blurred the traditional lines between combat and support functions.

"We now have real-life experience, current experience, that we can drawn on when we look at the question of women in combat again," Manning said. "In the past we just sort of had to guess."

An attempt by some members of Congress in May 2005 to translate into law Pentagon regulations concerning women in combat was quickly shelved under pressure by the Bush administration which realized the pitfalls of such a move.

"They realized that if women couldn't fight, they would have to pull everyone out," said Manning. "I think our experience in Iraq will result in us abolishing the (Pentagon) policy ... but the whole question is tabled and it will stay tabled until the end of the war unless something dramatic happens."

Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty, a Pentagon spokesman, said though female soldiers are not "assigned to units whose primary mission is to engage enemy forces in direct ground combat, (...) all soldiers are warriors, and all soldiers are trained and ready to fight when necessary."

Opponents to putting women in ground combat maintain that their presence on the front line would hinder the effectiveness and cohesion of fighting units and accuse the Army of toying with semantics and sophistry in order to send women to battle.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the conservative Center for Military Readiness, charged that female soldiers were being assigned to jobs which on paper appear to be out of the line of fire.

In reality, however, she said, they are placed in units that engage in direct ground combat.

She said that by circumventing regulations, the Army was placing its soldiers in harm's way because of the physical disadvantage of women in combat situations, and because romantic liaisons could harm unit cohesion.

"The only rule they (the Army) have these days is anything goes," Donnelly told AFP. "The army is inviting trouble."

CSM
03-07-2007, 08:49 PM
So when you signing up?

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 08:50 PM
When I graduate.

CSM
03-07-2007, 08:52 PM
When I graduate.

Tell em you are a lesbian...that will get you a cushy job and they'll welcome you with open arms!

Make sure you tell em you are there to teach them whaever they don't know too. The'll appreciate that too!

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 08:57 PM
Of course I wouldn't tell them that I'm a lesbian. Don't ask don't tell and all that.

I'm here on this board to give my opinions when I join I'll be there to do a job.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:04 PM
Of course I wouldn't tell them that I'm a lesbian. Don't ask don't tell and all that.

I'm here on this board to give my opinions when I join I'll be there to do a job.

You know what? If you are serious, then I will have to re-assess my opinion of you. BUT, if you are serious, you truly do have some serious attitude adjustment. I am not kidding here...I know the military as well as anyone on these boards.

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:06 PM
Maybe so but you don't know what type of attitude I have just my internet persona and yes I am serious. have decided which brach yet though but I'm still a year and half away from graduating.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:10 PM
Maybe so but you don't know what type of attitude I have just my internet persona and yes I am serious. have decided which brach yet though but I'm still a year and half away from graduating.

Hmmm ... interesting. Mind if I ask what yo think you would like to do in the military?

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:12 PM
Something in the medical field I'm thinking.

darin
03-07-2007, 09:19 PM
why the hell does it matter that they are women? They aren't women. They are soldiers.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:20 PM
Something in the medical field I'm thinking.

Well, all the services are in need of personnel in the medical areas. Sounds a bit traditional but not a bad choice. Lots of other stuff open to women these days in just about every field you can think of. The good thing is you have some time to examine our options. Truthfully I am surprised you are not considering college.

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:32 PM
I will of course go after or while I'm in if that's possible. Also want to be full time not in the gaurd right now. Haven't reaserched the subject all that much yet.

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:34 PM
why the hell does it matter that they are women? They aren't women. They are soldiers.
because woman soldiers are supposedly bared from frontline combat for being woman. So there is a difference.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:36 PM
I will of course go after or while I'm in if that's possible. Also want to be full time not in the gaurd right now. Haven't reaserched the subject all that much yet.

Understood. I am sincerely willing to get you any info you might be interested in regarding the military...without the recruiting snow job or pressure....just gimme a holler when you want to.

Now back to my regular old cranky self!

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:39 PM
lol cool, thanks.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:41 PM
because woman soldiers are supposedly bared from frontline combat for being woman. So there is a difference.

Actually, they are not "barred because they are women". The truth is they are barred because of Congress and US society. Also, as you well know, there really are physical differences (not just gender) between men and women which can have an impact as well. That is not to say that many women are not capable of fighting well as men, but, in general, men are more suited physically to combat. Obviously, there are excpetions to every rule. Some men shold never be allowed to put on a uniform, never mind go into combat.

LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:42 PM
Of course but I wish society would get passed their gender bias enough to allow woman who are capable and willing to fill such roles instead of making them men only.

gabosaurus
03-07-2007, 09:44 PM
The military should take anyone who wants to join. Being gay or lesbian does not hinder anyone's ability to do a job.
It is the current military regime that needs an attitude adjustment.

CSM
03-07-2007, 09:52 PM
The military should take anyone who wants to join. Being gay or lesbian does not hinder anyone's ability to do a job.
It is the current military regime that needs an attitude adjustment.

Thanks for your interest in national defense; you may go back to doing whatever it is you "trophy wives" do.

Psychoblues
03-11-2007, 04:11 AM
Seriously, csm, you and I both knew of and about the queers while we wore the uniforms. You and I can both attest that neither of us had any problems with them, or maybe you can. I'd like to hear it if you indeed did.



Thanks for your interest in national defense; you may go back to doing whatever it is you "trophy wives" do.

Some wives are truly "trophy wives" as you say. My wife certainly considers me a "trophy husband" if that is appropriate in this conversation. What is your problem with the queers? Please state it plainly and as succinctly as possible for you as I am very cognizant that many may misinterpret your explanation/s.

Dig it?

mundame
03-26-2007, 10:10 AM
May these brave woman prove just how capable woman can be in war and destroy one more sexist prejudice.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070306/ts_alt_afp/womenusiraqmilitary;_ylt=Ar6_HnLR5NyIgijTqWm2aGis0 NUE

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The war in Iraq, which has killed or wounded more US women in combat than any other conflict, has redefined their role in the military and triggered a rethink of their place on the front line.

Women in the US military are barred from belonging to ground combat units under rules drawn up by the Pentagon more than a decade ago and are limited to serving on surface warships and in attack aircraft.



With the huge increase in reported rapes this year, I would guess that the role definition of women in the military is basically "comfort women," to all too many male soldiers.

I think these soldier rapes are pretty awful. The Army can't protect them, so women should not be serving.

CSM
03-26-2007, 10:42 AM
With the huge increase in reported rapes this year, I would guess that the role definition of women in the military is basically "comfort women," to all too many male soldiers.

I think these soldier rapes are pretty awful. The Army can't protect them, so women should not be serving.

Well, I guess women should not be allowed to do ANYTHING since rape occurs outside the military as well and they cannot be protected.

Some logic you have there!

theHawk
03-26-2007, 10:43 AM
The military should take anyone who wants to join. Being gay or lesbian does not hinder anyone's ability to do a job.
It is the current military regime that needs an attitude adjustment.

The military does take anyone who wants to join. There are plenty of gays that serve in the military and everyone around them knows it.

If you are gay and are going to join just be sure you can handle a lot of gay jokes. :laugh2:

theHawk
03-26-2007, 10:45 AM
Well, I guess women should not be allowed to do ANYTHING since rape occurs outside the military as well and they cannot be protected.

Some logic you have there!

And worse yet Males sometimes get KILLED, so since the military cannot protect them no one should serve in the military. :lame2: