US servicewomen fear Iraq role under threat

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US servicewomen fear their role in Iraq may be threatened by US lawmakers after two female marines and a woman sailor were killed and 11 others wounded in a suicide bombing in Fallujah last week.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives put forward legislation on May 11 that would sharply curtail the role of women on the battlefield. Women in the US military are currently banned from combat by Pentagon policy, but often work in support roles.

"Some of the folks think women shouldn't be here, this isn't going to help. We're here like everyone else," said Major Jennifer Snyder, a US military spokeswoman.

"Congress is questioning women's role in combat. We're trained to the same standards as men already."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050628/wl_mideast_afp/iraqusmilitarywomen_050628064201

[Straight Shooter]

1. "Some of the folks think women shouldn't be here, this isn't going to help

No offense to Major Snyder, I commend her sense of duty and dedication, but I think none of them should be there, none of it is going to help at this point.

Of course, pushing women back from the advances they've gained is just another little benefit the bushies get from this War on Iraq. It kind of helps perpetuate the myth of the "helpless female."

[OKthatsIT]

2. Support Role? Iraq? War is everywhere...support what???

They better not take their guns away...these women WILL defend themselves and anyone else who needs it.

[Solly Mack]

3. The main reason anyone In Congress is kvetching about women

in combat is because it *might* look bad back home....not because they give a damn about women....but because they(Congress) might look bad to voters....or they have an agenda - such as the fetus followers crowd...

Who will use the bogus and hypocritical potential fetus excuse....but it's still not because they give a damn about women...

I don't support this illegal war/occupation and never have...but I'll speak out against anyone using this war and female soldiers dying to erode a hard earned right of women. If you use these women in that way, you're no better than Bush-who is using them as well. I don't like anyone dying..but I'll be damned if I walk over their graves to strip women of rights....that's what Bush did with those that died on September 11th....he walked over their graves to strip the rest of us of rights.

It's not for anyone else to understand, grasp, or accept why a woman joins the military....much like abortion, that's her business and her business only.

We don't want Congress telling us jobs are gender specific do we?

[havocmom]

5. Prelude to a draft would include limiting women's roles in the military.

The folks at home are gonna be ornery enough about having sons called up. Some of them would probably file suit if women were not also called up. By setting rules about where women can serve, Congress can justify a male only draft.

Can you imagine the protests if sons & daughters were drafted? There would be no place to hide from the screaming crowds and they would have to end the illegal invasions and occupations of sovereign states. That would piss off their corporate paymasters. Gotta find middle ground.

Safer to 'tut tut... girls need to be kept from combat...' before they say 'we need a draft for COMBAT soldiers...'.

Like anything else they do, it is all about how thinks look rather than how things really are. Please keep your eye on the magician's lovely assistant while the magician picks your pocket.

[Roland99]

4. Injured Marines transferred from Germany to U.S. - 7 women hurt in Iraq

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=30025

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Seven female Marines wounded in Thursday’s suicide bombing in Iraq stayed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center before being flown to the United States on Monday.

Medical evacuation crews flew the women to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Landstuhl spokeswoman Marie Shaw said. She said she could not release the names of the wounded or their medical conditions. Brooke has a renowned burn center.

Eleven of the 13 troops injured in the ambush were women.