I don’t like this idea of women serving in the frontline at all. For one, most of our wars have been fighting with non-state actors or bearded men on Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. We haven’t faced a real formidable forces like China, Iran, or Russia for awhile now. War with any of these countries will not be pretty.
Yes, women do get raped downrange. If they are smart, they pack their 9 when they use the facility at night.
That’s not the female soldier or Marines fault though. But just so it’s known… men get raped in the U.S. military too. In fact, the V.A. claims to treat over 30,000 male veterans compared to 19,000 female veterans for sexual abuse while they were in the military. I’ve been in the V.A. with both male and female victims of sexual abuse.
So, their being raped by U.S. military men is no more their fault than the girls and women victims in the Mai Lai massacre.
Also, and not meant to be aggressive towards you, but with respects to Russia and China I would not worry about the U.S. going to war with them. They have nuclear weapons and as a rule of thumb the U.S. does not fight nations with nukes. Plus, we prefer smaller and weaker countries. Like Cuba.
First of all, I said I DON’T want my girls in combat. Second, that’s just sick…my husband was injured in combat three times his first deployment, two times his second, thankfully none the last two deployments. He has his scars and to me they are beautiful. They show he survived and made it home to us and that’s what counts. He’s getting ready to deploy again. He has lost buddies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and others have lost limbs.
I know what you said. You misunderstood my point and post–which was in agreement of sorts with you.
As a rule of thumb young men are not going to court disfigured and disabled women. Not over young women more aesthetically pleasing. I’m not a politician, I’m not hear to sing the heroics of combat and how all ends well afterwards in poetic prose. Like the effects of heroin addiction I’m here to tell the catastrophe afterwards.
Will some return fine even if disfigured or disabled? Yes. Some women will. Some women in America will strike it rich spending all their rent or mortgage money at the casinos in Las Vegas too.
The biggest problem with your post is that my husbsnd is MEXICAN. My daughters are LATINAS. When I met my husband he was a migrant farmer and yes–illegally in the country. My husband didn’t even become a US citizen until after his third deployment. He is not in a combat unit–they are 88M (truckers). Almost half his unit is female, and believe me they DO see combat on convoys. Not as much now, but his first deployment in 2004-2005, Iraq was a truck war. The convoys were attacked on a regular basis. Like I said, it’s bad enough I need to see my husband go to war, and someday possibly my sons. I DON’T want to see my girls go as well. Leave the racism and arrogance out of your posts and read posts instead of just being nasty.
Before I had kids I wanted to go myself. I was a tomboy and thought it was the thing to do. Now that I’m a mother I can tell you it isn’t the same for kids when Dad is gone as it is when Mom is gone.
My post was not meant to be nasty nor was it meant to be racist.
Look. In combat some young men have their testicles torn off. What 60 year old politician is going to say that? None. My point is to recount (as some returning female veterans have experienced) that young men are very unlikely take to disabled or disfigured female veterans upon their return.
Which seems like nothing to most. But disfigurement and disability can become very mental for many people especially as time goes by.
Perhaps the best way for me to frame this is replace “combat” with “I.V. drug use” and say:
I.V. drug use is bad. Horrible. Therefore, I recommend we spread its use to more Americans. If limited to young men lets spread it to young women.
To me that is what’s being essentially suggested by increasing female combat roles.
For my part… and I served in the Gulf during age 19… I wouldn’t mind seeing the minimum age required to join the military raised to about ages 25 or 27. I would also like to see it become a human rights issue to allow people in the military (of any nation on earth) be allowed to quit if they so choose.
At any rate… in a way this is none of my business. It’s probably best just for me to mind my own business and carry on with my own pursuits. Everyone has there own roads to travel down. Some of those roads may be bumpy.
By the way… I am very much a Brazilian-phile.
And a big fan of the Brazilian female form as captured on the beaches of Rio. Though, Miami is probably just as well too.
And then afterwards, NOW got real, real upset at ABC for airing this segment and demanded Stossel to be reprimanded . If I’m not mistaken they wanted him fired! 
The thing is, my father who was a Baltimore City Firefighter confirmed much of what Stossel was showing.
