US mulls ban on women in combat

[cal04]

Republicans in the US Congress are trying to pass legislation which would keep female soldiers out of combat. The measure is being considered now by the House Armed Services Committee. Advocates of the proposal want to stop women from working as drivers, medics and logistics specialists in teams which provide back-up to combat units.

They say the women get too close to the fighting. But the US army is opposed to the plan at a time when they are having problems with recruitment.
Senior officers have said if it passes into law, they will have to pull out 22,000 female soldiers from their current jobs and replace them with men.

No front line

Women who serve in the US army are barred by law from fighting on the front line. The US army faces recruitment problems But in Iraq, the US is fighting an insurgency - which means there is no front line. About 9,000 women are serving in Iraq and 35 have been killed. Republican lawmakers in the Congress now want to pass a measure which would keep women out of units called Forward Support Companies. The army is deeply opposed to the measure.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4560847.stm

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Keep 'em in the kitchen, no matter what that does to enlistment

Buncha BC yahoos.

While they're re-defining who's welcome to do what, they could look into actively welcoming the children of those who voted for the invasions.

[deadparrot]

2. Um. Now's not actually a good time, is it?

What with the, you know, WAR and all.

[Atlas Mugged]

7. *cough*INVASION*cough*

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. But Newt Gingrich said them womens get "infections" once a month...

so therefore are unfit for combat. I'm a woman, and I'm also a pacifist with that said...the misogynists in congress are fucking ridiculous, lets remove 22,000 soldiers right in the middle of a recruiting crisis. Personally I wouldn't mind if they removed all the soldiers from harm's way but that is for a different reason entirely

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Has Newt finally found one that doesn't get infections yet?

He's gone through a few hasn't he. Sorry, easy shot.

How about every adult gets to make their own choices except when it hurts other adults against their will, and everyone is equal. Revolutionary stuff, that.

[Reverend_Smitty]

10. Absolutely crazy!

what kind of message does this send? That somehow the lives of women are more important than the lives of men? The congress really needs to get their heads out of their Victorian era asses on this one

[ConfuZed]

5. If they don't have to go I'm not either :)

...Not that I would :D

[Joey Liberal]

6. Repubs don't want the Bush tramps/twins to get drafted

The republicans don't want the drunken Texas tramps to get drafted to go into combat. That's why they are pushing this change. If the Army is hurting now, wait till this takes affect.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. As a woman who has seen combat (not in the US Miltiary though)

what a bunch of ninnies.

Then again these are the same yahoos that rather have OTHERS do the fighting for them wars they love so much....

I say, fine pass this bill... in exchange I want all their MALE kids serving as Field Medics ... the most dangerous MOS outside of SpecOps in the US Military

[ogradda]

9. Hey why don't we send the kids too?

Better yet, how 'bout sending some asswipe neocons over? Mebbe get the blood lust outta their systems.

[Quakerfriend]

11. Me thinks they are ironing out the final details in preparation

for a DRAFT come June.

[rocktivity]

12. It's getting drafty in here again...

...About 9,000 women are serving in Iraq...

...Senior officers have said they...(would) have to pull out 22,000 female soldiers from their current jobs and replace them with men.

For the last three months, the Army has failed to meet its recruiting targets. At the moment it looks set to miss its annual target by 15%. Further limiting the roles women can fill in the military will make its task even harder.

Well, duh. So WHY is this happening, especially if the women are able to perform in the jobs? Is there too much sex going on? Or does deliberately creating an even bigger vacuum of male soldiers make a draft that much more "inevitable"?

On edit: I just watched the head of the Army recruitment command talking to Lou Dobbs on CNN. He says their biggest problems are a good job market and kids being led astray by "influencers" (coaches, clergy, relatives, etc.). He sloughed off the idea that kids might be put off at the kind of treatment soldiers got (unarmored vehicles, extended deployments, etc.) and said that a solider's doing his duty should be held in the same kind of esteem as a pop star.

They're setting up for a draft, all right.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Jacobin]

13. So, all the women soldiers are coming home from IraqNam?

That's good news.....for them. The military classifies all of Iraq as a war zone, ya know.

[ConfuZed]

20. and the men? n/t

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

14. As a female Active Army vet...I've got to say...this is NUTS!

What is the point of this??? It's common knowledge that support units have the potential to become combat targets and may need to defend themselves.

That's why basic training is compulsory. If you're in the military, you are expected to understand combat basics.

The women I trained and served with were perfectly capable of grasping this concept, and completely able to perform whatever task was necessary for combat engagement. As was I. In fact, my husband, whom I met while in the military, didn't score as high as I did in weapons marksmanship (please don't tell him I told you ;-) ).

This is another "keep 'em barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen" move. Are the RW chickenhawks threatened by the women who are in combat when they are not? MKJ

edited to add: and a draft seems to be highly possible.

[SouthernDem2004]

15. Personally my only concern is physical ability. When women can pass the

same APFT requirements as men then I will buy the totally equal thing. I know many that can and would have no problem fighting beside them. Problem is, most can not....

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

17. When I served, there were plenty of men in my unit who couldn't

handle a ten minute mile or the minimum number of push ups. Infantry, yes, the PT standards should be high. However, support units (communications, medical and transportation MOS's, for example) don't stringently adhere to those standards, and one would find a significant number of men who struggle with the physical demands.

I can say that during my military service I was able to beat most of the men in my unit in endurance, speed and marksmanship. And, in today's military reality, everyone is equally vulnerable to attacks, without having the traditional combat scenario play out. MKJ

[BamaGirl]

22. I agree, as a former mp

What the hell are these idiots thinking!? Most of the women I knew were more than capable of keeping up with men. I could out march, out push, and out shoot most of the men I knew lol. I still can. :D It would really hurt the active duty MP componant to take out all the females. They would not stand for being reclassed. They'd jsut get out.

I met my husband in the military too lol. He hates that I'm a better shot lol. ;)

[cal04]

16. Lawmakers revisit debate over women in combat

In a war that has no front lines, women serving in the U.S. military in Iraq are often thrust into combat in a flash. Although the Pentagon’s own policy prohibits women from serving in units that engage in direct ground combat, the insurgent war in Iraq has forced the Army to blur the lines. Many women are assigned to combat support units that put them directly into harm's way as military police, medics and truck drivers in military convoys — all frequent targets of suicide bombers.

Now, some in Congress want to make sure women in the military are kept out of harm's way. "It's time for Congress to step in, provide some stability to the situation and draw a line of demarcation and ensure that women do not go into direct ground combat," says Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7901629/

[sweetheart]

18. load of bollocks

women should serve just like men. It takes willpower and a trigger
finger. This is just another attack on feminism veiled in obscure
thinking. Women are equal to men, in every way. If its become a problem
because of young people, hormones and sex, then have single-sex units,
but hardly does it make sense, in our modern age, to send one sex to
die for criminal government, and the other not.

Both die or none die.... Oh gosh, its thursday, and why should i not
expect "thursday's" attack on feminism... its pretty much like a bloody
clock these wanker republican filthy lowlife yellowbellied pondscum.

[Lilith Velkor]

19. "...the women get too close to the fighting"? Uh, so do the men.

Fucking cancel the war already, asshats!

[nytemare]

21. Guess what, women are in combat!

Can they get enough people to enlist to make up for those women that are in direct support positions???

I doubt it.