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And as a practical matter: When women turn 18, will they now need to register, as men do, so that they can be conscripted in the event of a World War III, or any military emergency where the US government decides it needs troops quickly?
[SNIP]
“The answer to that question is clearly yes,” says Anne Coughlin, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville. “The legal argument is clear: If it comes to that kind of wrenching emergency where we have to press young people into service, there is no legal justification for saying that men alone need to shoulder that burden.”
[SNIP]
Once the combat exclusion policy is lifted, “My belief is that if we open up combat arms to women, even on a voluntary basis, if there is a draft, we should be able to force women into those positions,” says retired Col. Peter Mansoor, a professor of military history at the Ohio State University in Columbus and a former US Army brigade commander who served two tours in Iraq.
“If women are acceptable to serve in combat, they are acceptable to serve whether they volunteer or not. You can’t have the frosting on the cake and not the cake underneath,” he says.
The Air Force recorded an "appalling" number of reports of sexual assault last year even as it worked to curb misconduct in the wake of a sex scandal at its training headquarters in Texas, the service's top officer told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said there were 796 reports of cases ranging from inappropriate touching to rape. The 2012 figure is a nearly 30 percent increase from 2011 when 614 cases were reported. The number could be much greater, Welsh said, because many cases are never reported at all.
"A woman who signs up to protect her country is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire," stated former California Democratic Rep. Jane Harman in testimony before a July 2008 House panel investigating the military's handling of sexual assault reports. The Congresswoman added that her "jaw dropped" when she learned from military doctors that four of ten women in a local veterans hospital had been raped by fellow soldiers. What's equally startling, though, is that Harman - a reputed national security insider and a strong supporter of women in the military - was in the dark about rampant military sexual assault.
Originally posted by txinfidel
reply to post by Night Star
Oh I think women would be very effective in the battlefield even more so than men in some cases. But these folks want to put your sons and daughters in danger over there overly compulsive battles. I dont think it is funny or would be funny when they want your son or daughter to fight their cowardly battles for them.
Originally posted by chasingbrahman
reply to post by charles1952
Charles1952,
The young feminist in me is deeply offended. However, the more mature rationalist is laughing so hard she had to walk away from her desk at work. I must agree that it's a strategy. I've removed myself from situations more than once because I knew my hormonal disadvantage threatened my own freedom if prosecuted, given my temporary ability to form my own infantry, declare and win a war against no less than nine zip codes in ten minutes using only my knitting-needles and my trusty Black and Decker laser-leveller and studfinder.
Thanks so much for the belly-laugh. I needed one.