16 August 2009
Lizette Alvarez Redeems Herself
I've been known to label NY Times military columnist Lizette Alvarez a moran in the past for her slanted coverage, but she has a pretty decent article in the NY Times about women in today's military. The article states that the military acknowledges that women serve an important role in combat, but that the general American populous has yet to recognize this reality (h/t GI Kate's Twitter). It's similar to the case of SPC Brown who received a Silver Star in Afghanistan but got pulled off combat duty once the press made the public aware of what she was doing.
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3 comments:
Nice find. What I see the reason for the continued ban is partially stated in the article. The part about separate quarters, rape alligations, counselors, pregancies, ect. Who wants to deal with that just to apease the PC? I am all for anyone who can do the job. The problem will come in trying to enforce a standard. More than a few bad apples will spring up saying that they were not allowed in because of her gender. The standards will have to be specifc, objective, and documentable. The other question is, are the standards different for men and women, ala the PRT/PFT, or are they the same? Personally, I think a standard should be just that, a standad. That is, one standard for everyone. I think these questions have simple answers, but no one in power wants to deal with the lawsuits and ACLU, so they contiue to bury their heads in the sand.
I agree with everything oldgrey said. From my experience in the military 9/10 of the people in there now feel the same, with the remaining 1/10 being the people that perpetuate the rediculous double standard that exists. From endless hours of not doing much on a boat I can only figure that initially they needed to get women in to combat roles so they could maintain an all volenteer military. If we didn't have that they would actually have to have popular support for the wars we get involved in...
I've always wondered though... If we get in a war that requires more people than our current recruitment model can sustain, will they bring the draft back? If so, will women be drafted? If not, will women volenteers be displaced by more capable male recruits in combat roles?
There will never be a draft again, because that is political suicide for any politician.
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