Women are fighting and dying right now. People are somehow leading them into battle.
414 posts in this thread, and many of them address this very thing. Interestingly, the woman who has come closest to seeing actual combat that I know of on this forum seems to think that women can handle the realities of combat.
Same way it is done in the military now? Remember, men and women have been serving side by side at times in every war since at least Korea, if not at the front lines.
You have yet to show in any way that women serving in front line positions would degrade those front line units with women in them.
Same arguments used against integrating blacks into white units.
Holy cow! You don't think much of our military people do you?
Women in the military has not lead to more murders, sorry.
You are making an assumption based on too little knowledge. Israel has one of the more open policies in regards to women in the military, and are among the most effective military forces in the world, possibly the best soldier for soldier. The US has had any number of women involved in combat in the last few years, and we have the strongest overall military in the world. As women have taken on more and new roles in the military, it has yet to make the military weaker. In fact, quite the opposite.
I don;t see you addressing any of the points that I am making.
Men and women serve openly in the military, do you really think there are not any problems with this? Do you think the standards for the MP's, or logistics, or communications are the same as those of the infantry? Do you think that petty jealousy, sexual tensions, fraternization, are not problems in co-ed units that are largely away from the battle?
Do you honestly think that this is a good idea to have these problems right in front of our enemies?
How do you think this nation will respond if when a hundred women are killed in an ambush?
Do you really think that an all femal infantry battalion would not attract attacks from every whack job, be the influence Syrian, Iranian, or even Saudi were they to be posted in Iraq? That is not infantry tactics, that is bait.
So, instead of talking about a woman, who has been as close to combat as you think, please take it from an infantry officer who has lead men in battle, that has chewed out more young men and women for 'favors' in duty than you can shake a stick at this is a bad idea.
I would not be comfortabel leading a mixed unit of men and women into the teeth of a prepared enemy defense. The vast majority of my peers would be similarly uncomfortable. Please bear in mind as you site racial segreagation, black men and white men were going to wind up sleeping with each other, engaging in petty jealousies, nor compete with each other for the new black guys attention.
And as you scoff about someone noticing the posting of nice legs on an internet forum, please bear in mind that, although this does not perclude the possiblity of noticing and appreciating a brain, it does not chang ethe fact that a horny young 19 year old probably doesn't give a whip about your brain as he heads into battle.
Like I said, when the sexes are truly equal, when behavior and standards are enforceable equally this may be possible. Some things are just not equal, nor indeed are they a terribly good idea in the face of the enemy. After all, I meet the academic standards for those all women colleges, but I am not allowed in. Such blatant discrimination!
I am just all a twitter with anger at such blatant discrimination. Who care sthat there are some benefits to same sex education (at least according to the colleges), this should be immediately struck down as an injustice.
And yet, no one is dying.
This is not a popularity contest. This is not a PC love fest. This is about preparing our country to defeat our enemies in the most efficient manner possible.
What compelling reason do we have to let women in? Because you want to, and, and teh current military leadership are a**holes for not letting you? Fine, be alive to hate me, and I'll continue to bring my boys home alive where they can do whatever the hell they want.
As you site Israel, please bear in mind there was a time when Israel allowed women in the infantry. They no longer do. There must be a reason for this?
And finally, I am just a big, dumb a** grunt. I have seen quite a few people die, and usually that death is quite meaningless. So please spell it out for this big, stupid, chauvanist grunt, how does a guy walking down the road and hitting and IED that blows him to pieces define or defend principal?
We were able to track down patterns that allowed us to attack the IED cell that made it, and that made Iraq a little safer. His death? Had we found the IED before it exploded? What principal is that?
Let me be very clear, the collective raised hackles of the women on this thread mean far, far less to me than does the responsibility of bringing my boys home alive. It short, my duty and responsibility to those I lead matters far more to me than your sense of injustice.
That is not about the courage of women, it is about the raeality of battle and the fact that it is fought by young men (who are not exactly Harvard grads in most cases). So sip on your snifters of Cognac and call me an a**hole. I will still fight with every ounce of my being to accomplish the mission set forth by the National Command Authority and bring as many of our sons home as is possible.