Women take on major battlefield roles

[Target_For_Exterm]

"A goodwill mission to deliver kerosene heaters to Iraqi schools erupts into the fiery chaos of a roadside bombing — and Maj. Mary Prophit shields a comrade so he can rescue a critically burned Iraqi soldier.

A convoy outside Baghdad is ambushed by machine-gun wielding Iraqi insurgents — and Spc. Ashley Pullen races down a road to save an injured sergeant.

A Black Hawk helicopter is struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq — and co-pilot Tammy Duckworth, bloody and severely wounded, struggles to stay conscious until the damaged aircraft is down and her crew is safe.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, women warriors are writing a new chapter in military history, serving by the tens of thousands, fending off enemy fire and taking on — and succeeding in — high-profile roles in the battlefield and the skies as never before."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061202/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/women_in_war

I wonder if women will be part of any future draft... They're certainly a convenient crutch for the stretched thin military. Good for them that they excel at it.

[Deja Q]

1. If they pass the physical and boot camp, then they are treated as equals

in terms of combat capabilities. As Dick Cheney once said, soldiers are there to fight wars.

(though the sexual assaults and other things committed by some against the women is wrong...)

[AnneD]

2. Sad to say...

at this juncture, they are not treated as equals-otherwise they would be able to hold combat positions. Unless things have changed, some jobs are classed as combat (front line) and not available to women. But to be honest, there has not been a line war since WWI. This has been used as a way to exclude women from certain areas. I wanted to go into the Chemicals Section. I went to talk to some folks there. Some of the women said they were going to be reassigned from a plum position because it was reclassified as combat...even though they were no closer to the front line than anyone else. More and more positions were classified to keep women out.

And I won't even get into sexual harassment and how this is covered up. 24/7 you have to be on guard. The military doesn't have a clue. It can start with the simple things-like not enough tissue and to much salt in the MRE to child care and family issues. How many women in Iraq have either been raped going to the rest room at night or died of dehydration trying NOT to go to the rest room at night.