[Dean's World] Dean: Where the Conservatives Led Me Astray: Women In The Military

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Posted by Dean:
Where the Conservatives Led Me Astray: Women In The Military
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1162439405.shtml


   I have learned to respect conservatives. For a brief while I
   considered myself one of them, but eventually I realized I disagreed
   with them on too many things. But I still recognize that they often
   have good arguments that should not be simply dismissed. They often
   raise very good concerns, even Politically Incorrect concerns that
   should be considered carefully and not just dismissed as "reactionary"
   or "sexist."

   But I can't fail to notice a certain basic fact of life: currently,
   the American military is the most badass, frightening military machine
   that has ever existed on Planet Earth. No one denies this. At the
   moment, if we wanted them to, the American military could destroy any
   military machine on the planet, and probably do it in weeks if not
   days.

   That's not jingoism, that's fact. But it raises some objections that
   not all American conservatives are entirely comfortable with. To whit:

   At the moment, in the early 21st Century, there is not a military to
   be found on the entire globe that could stand up and beat the American
   military in a fair fight. It just can't be done. Saddam Hussein's
   forces might have been able to hold off Adolph Hitler's forces, or
   Joseph Stalin's forces, for several weeks or months. They might have
   even won.

   But America's 21st century forces cut through them like a hot knife
   through butter. They did it not just in weeks, but DAYS. They
   destroyed the Taliban in Afghanistan in WEEKS, not YEARS. They
   destroyed Saddam's Republican Guard in DAYS, not years.

   Yet here's the thing: the conservative [1]Center for Military
   Readiness, which is located not far from my house, and is run mostly
   by women, has been telling me for more than ten years that the
   Pentagon's policy of integrating women into the American military is
   degrading our fighting forces.

   I don't say that they raise no valid objections. But I must say: for
   over 20 years they've been claiming that women in the American
   military are degrading our fighting performance. And in the last 20
   years, America has become the predominant fighting force on the
   planet. We let THE GIRLS be a part of our fight, and since then we
   have become the most fearsome and effective fighting force that the
   world has ever seen.

   I'm not even being jingoistic. It's a serious question: has there
   EVER, in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE, been a more fearsome
   fighting force than the early 21st Century American military? Is there
   ANY force on the ENTIRE GLOBE that could stand up against us for more
   than, say, 3 weeks?

   Yet we let GIRLS be part of it all. Oh gosh. Our mistake.

   I'm not saying we need to admit women into the dogfaces who make up
   the front-line infantry. Nor even that we need them in the SEALS or
   the Special Forces. But are you telling me they can't make effective
   fighter pilots, effective snipers, effective bombers, effective line
   officers, effective noncoms?

   I've been listening to conservatives tell me that GIRLS are degrading
   our fighting forces' effectiveness for most of my life, and in those
   same years I've watched America become the most fearsome and effective
   fighting force the world has ever seen.

   Give it up you conservatives. Women can't do EVERYTHING that men can
   do, but on the other hand they have a LOT to offer. Integrating them
   has NOT weakened our military forces at all. If it did, then how did
   America become the most fearsome military machine in world history?
   Luck?

   And by the way: women generally make better snipers than men do.
   They're often scary-good shots. My wife can give excellent testimony
   to that. So did my grandma, who was an incredible shot with a rifle.

   Yes yes, the boys are bigger and have better upper-arm strength and
   can maybe run a little faster and do more pushups. But the whole idea
   that the presence of women in our armed forces has degraded our armed
   forces? You're nuts.

   Yes women add complications and difficulties, but other than that,
   what? The American military of today is the scariest, most lethal
   fighting force in the history of the world. And you think that GIRLS
   are screwing it up? What do you base that on besides theoretical
   concerns?

   Face the truth, you conservatives: it's not that women can do
   EVERYTHING men can do, and you were right that men are stronger
   physically. But your concerns that women would destroy our fighting
   effectiveness overall? YOU WERE JUST WRONG. They have a lot to offer,
   a lot, and we'd all be dumb to just dismiss them.

References

   1. http://www.cmrlink.org/