The Pentagon just sanctioned women fighting on the front lines during combat. Women have served in combat zones for a long time, but military women have just “won” the right to move to the front and be slaughtered.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this decision.
As a strong advocate for women’s rights, I understand the Pentagon’s reasoning. Women and men are equal intellectually, psychologically, socially and mentally. As a governmental agency, they must prove that. No discrimination allowed, lest they get sued, picketed, or appear politically backwards. The problem is, they have their eye off of the ball.
The Pentagon’s job is to help secure the safety of the country and make certain that the U.S. has the strongest military possible. Those two things should always trump politics or social engineering. Combat is no place to make political statements. The truth is, most women would have a harder time throwing a 210-pound wounded fellow soldier over their shoulder and get him to safety than their male counterparts would. Women soldiers are as smart, as good at flying aircraft or crafting war strategy as men, but who would you want dragging you to safety if you were shot—a 130-pound woman or a 180-pound man?
Second, mothers should not come home in body bags. Many women who go overseas have small children at home and as an advocate for children, I don’t think that children should endure their mothers putting themselves in harm’s way. When a woman becomes a mother, she signs off the right to deliberately put herself in life-threatening situations. Being her children’s mother is her first priority—not her career. Jobs come and go, but children stay in our lives forever. A mother can have someone replace her at her job, but not at home.