Surprisingly, it has less to do with women in combat than with the way the military life has changed.
David Hackworth is positively livid about military PC. No, he doesn't want women in combat, but he still gives them their due. His take is that "Political Correctness" is a combination of indiscipline, lack of
esprit de corps, loss of the "warrior spirit" and overall understanding of the philosophy of warfare and combat. Read his article "
The March of the Porcelain Soldiers" and you'll see what Hack is talking about it.
By the way, I don't agree with
everything he says about the subject, but there's a lot of wisdom in what he does say. Agree or not, it's always a good idea to listen to people who've done the kind of work you wouldn't be caught dead doing -- especially when they're doing it so you won't be caught dead, period.
There's an old military epigram that's become fairly well-known among wise-ass civilians like me: "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat" (plus about 100 variations.) In the effort to make Basic Training less abusive, it seems to have become much less effective, with occasionally horrific battlefield results. In addition, it is highly frustrating for combat officers, such as Colonel Collins (or Col. Hackworth), to have to deal with political officers, most of whom have no experience "in the field" but who are dispatched to implement politically pleasing changes in the military without so much as taking the time to talk to the actual fighters themselves.
And, of course, when your Commander-In-Chief is a lair, a cheat, a pampered playboy, a military deserter, and a born-again phony, it must make wartime a special kind of hell.
--bkl
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