Women in Combat

While many families were celebrating Mother's Day with their loved ones yesterday, thousands of women were miles away from home, serving their country on active duty. While the life of any deployed soldier is tough, the growing number of female recruits means even greater sacrifices on the home front, as many cope with long tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The physical demands are high, and it appears that the chance of being put in combat situations is even higher. In 1994, the Clinton-era Defense Department scrapped a rule that protected women from being assigned to front-line positions. By law of Congress, women are supposedly still protected from being assigned to combat roles. Unfortunately, the law protecting female soldiers has gradually been chipped away by Pentagon bureaucrats who are engaging in social experiments on a massive scale. As an editorial in USA Today suggests, the reality of the risks women are facing in Iraq does not match the restrictive policy in the law. Unfortunately, the paper wants to scrap the law rather than reform the reality. This exposes women to unacceptable dangers. Women have historically played a vital role in America's military, and they should continue to serve where appropriate but not in combat.

Source:FRC.