Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

[Steve M.]

This article stirs up a bit of 'things' in me. And so I'd like to share my thoughts and perhaps get some feedback. Not sure I'm able to see the broadness of all this could mean, but again, it stirs me to offer thought and seek feedback, other peoples views.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/221137-Army-revisiting-ban-on-female-soldiers-in-combat-units-General-Casey-announces

The Army's top general said recently that a policy banning women from combat arms units could soon be revised.

"We're looking at revising the policy," Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told a breakfast gathering of the Association of the U.S. Army in Arlington, Va. "We've had some work going on for a while, and that'll double back up to the secretary, I would think, in the next couple of months."

"When I get the recommendations back from the team [studying it], I'll take a look at it, but right now I wouldn't want to venture a guess and put my successor in a box," Gen. Casey said, according to Military.com.

If the Army actually did overturn the ban on women in combat units in that time-frame, it could beat the ongoing integration of openly gay soldiers into all regular units military-wide.

President Barack Obama called for changes to the military's discriminatory anti-gay policies, which were repealed by Congress in its last lame-duck session, to be implemented "quickly." The Department of Defense, however, has not specified how long full integration will take or what specifically will be changing, but Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has suggested it could take up to a year.

Present rules banned women from joining special forces, infantry and armored units.

2011 the year for 'equal rights'?

The military's announcement comes as, for yet another year, the Equal Rights Amendment was due to be reintroduced to Congress. The legislation, written by a suffrage activist in 1921, would enshrine gender equality in the US Constitution.

It has been largely ignored by almost every Congress since then, with the exception of 1972 when it managed to clear the national body. However, it was only ratified by 35 states, failing to obtain the 37 required to amend the Constitution.

The bill's reintroduction bears a greater pertinance to the discussion in Washington today thanks to the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and recent comments by conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who suggested to a reporter that the Constitution does not afford equal protection to women.

Scalia, long known to be a constitutional "originalist" and a conservative stalwart on the Supreme Court, argued that it's up to legislatures to pass laws that protect women against discrimination, and doing so wouldn't be unconstitutional.

"If indeed the current society has come to different views, that's fine," he said. "You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don't need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box."

The remarks drew outrage from various sectors, most recently from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who said Scalia's statement firmly sides with "regressive" views expressed by the House Republican majority when it comes to the rights of individual citizens.

"Justice Scalia takes the same narrow and hostile approach to individual rights as the so-called 'constitutional conservatives' who have just taken over the House," he said, according to a media advisory. "It is a dangerous time for equality. The Equal Rights Amendment will stand as an explicit bulwark of freedom and equality that even Justice Scalia, and regressive forces here in the House, will not be able to ignore."

He added that Scalia's assessment flies in the face of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection to all "persons" who are "citizens" of the US.

"Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, a clear an unequivocal statement in our Constitution guaranteeing equal rights for women, is long overdue," Nadler said. "It is an embarrassment for our nation that most countries have gender equality enshrined in their constitutions, while we do not. It undermines our standing as a nation committed to freedom and equality for all. It is a matter of simple justice and our leadership in the world that we move quickly to rectify this defect."

There are several points, forms of propaganda etc.. in my view. I can certainly imagine a Gung-ho woman who is capable in combat. Certainly anatomically a woman can carry (weapons, ammo..) her weight. I also imagine that women (at least more so than men) in general wouldn't stoop so low to kill a (would be, could be, is) mother or father. I see an army man (Gen. Casey) trying to fill the ranks of his forces in the Af-pak region. I see manipulation by toying with the sex's stereotypes, which I partially agree with, but then war is just plain ignorance altogether, no if's and's or buts about it, at least on the offensive, unless that offensive is a needed move in the way of defense (devil being in the details). If the propaganda plays out well in 'liberating womens rights' then it just means more body bags, now with women in them. These war mongering ... creatures, Casey, Obama and the like, get to play it off as if their (The Axis of Evil's) war was now for another just cause, see we're even letting women on-board to do the dying and killing in our BS war on terror. Pure propaganda all the way around. There is also what the psycho's have done to the economy that might actually force more women into service. The snakes sure slither.

Any thoughts?

Edit: I should add that, I am aware women have in the past and present made/make great sacrifices. While my views may be skewed and there are many things pushing and pulling at me by writing the above. I do hope that women would be more heroic by stopping men from their wars, greed, corruption, pathology.. while at the same time am aware that you're.. we're both just as capable of such sickness. I could imagine a league of women who were warriors, and their whole reason for fighting would be against war in itself. Sorry, day dreaming.

Anyhow, I do see a lot of issues in that article that all have a hint of spin and creating the possibility of stealing/destroying more human lives by the psycho circus. It makes me sick.

Edit 2.0 (same silly edit, new cool number!) This wasn't to mock the author, Stephen C. Webster, who I imagine as just offing the data, and who has my thanks. -End Edit(ed)(ions) :)


Salutes!

 

[seekr]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

How is it that that a woman-hating Islam is more progressive than the "West" and beats us to the punch of having female warriors first?

I see it basically as the march towards extinction. As the economy crumbles more women will be desperate for jobs and the military seems to be the only one hiring. They've already introduced the "female suicide bomber". So the enemy has female soldiers why shouldn't we? Once we have female combatants on both sides we no longer will have to report (or hide) all those stories of women and children killed by the drones. After all they're equal terrorist too. Now if we could just lower the age of induction 8!!

Don't fool yourself in thinking (projecting) that there are not women that would gladly pick up a gun and join the killing spree. Sarah Palin isn't the only female nut-job in the West....

Don't let them fool/distract you with equal rights, it's never about equal rights or honor, democracy, freedom, liberation. It's ALWAYS about PLUNDER!!

 

[Gimpy]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

The reason women are banned in combat units, is that the men will go back for them if they get hurt and 'go off mission.' The other reason is that women are seen as 'hardwired' to protect non combatants. The truth is that all human beings have a big problem killing another human being. That is why Basic training is so brutal, they have to literally beat the need to kill into recruits.

Since women have been allowed into the armed forces, rape of these women has been a serious problem, which is why, traditionally, women were banned from armed forces. Denigrating recruits as being less than men (and using derogatory language regarding women) is a staple in Basic. Rape of men considered 'too pansy' to 'make the grade' is also common. That's how you make killers...by dismantling their psyche and attaching a distorted architecture onto it.

When a gung ho woman is put through Basic, and raped by her own platoon, how easy is it going to be for her to shoot 'the enemy'? She can't get justice from 'the good guys', can she? It will make her insane, in the end.

I have yet to meet a woman in the armed forces who hasn't been sexually assaulted or raped. Its so prevalent its Evil Personified.

Its for this reason I don't agree with women joining the armed forces, period. Its designed, top to bottom, to dehumanize and destroy.

 

[FireShadow]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

The other reason is that women are seen as 'hardwired' to protect non combatants. The truth is that all human beings have a big problem killing another human being. That is why Basic training is so brutal, they have to literally beat the need to kill into recruits.

Since women have been allowed into the armed forces, rape of these women has been a serious problem, which is why, traditionally, women were banned from armed forces. Denigrating recruits as being less than men (and using derogatory language regarding women) is a staple in Basic. Rape of men considered 'too pansy' to 'make the grade' is also common. That's how you make killers...by dismantling their psyche and attaching a distorted architecture onto it.

When a gung ho woman is put through Basic, and raped by her own platoon, how easy is it going to be for her to shoot 'the enemy'? She can't get justice from 'the good guys', can she? It will make her insane, in the end.

I have yet to meet a woman in the armed forces who hasn't been sexually assaulted or raped. Its so prevalent its Evil Personified.

Its for this reason I don't agree with women joining the armed forces, period. Its designed, top to bottom, to dehumanize and destroy.

I was pondering this after just reading thread on "Truth about Patriarchy" (http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=13053.0).

I think both (normal human) males and females are hardwired to protect non-combatants. However. the patriarchy system beats down men's emotions early on, making them easier to convert to "killing machines". But women in the military need more brutality to accomplish that - hence the raping.

This widespread raping of women in the military seems more prevalent during war time. I spent 6 years in the Army back in the late 70's and early 80's. There was not very much of that when I served. In fact, I only ever heard of a few women being raped by other military service members.

I think that men or women joining the military under pathological rule is a bad idea. Perhaps if we had a non-pathological both sexes could easily be warriors...but then, we probably would not need much of a military then.

 

[Elly Kay]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

I think both (normal human) males and females are hardwired to protect non-combatants. However. the patriarchy system beats down men's emotions early on, making them easier to convert to "killing machines".

But women in the military need more brutality to accomplish that - hence the raping.

Rape is used as an act of psychological (think PTSD) and physical terror to ensure that people don't step out of line and to privilege those who engage in it. Hence, I think that the rapes happening in the military aren't an isolated occurrence and are more likely connected to the socialization of men (in Western society anyhow).

Directing the anger one feels at being oppressed by a psychopathic minority towards groups which have little to do with such oppression is a very clever way to divide and divert groups which would, given the chance, much more quickly detect the whole thing as a scam.

This widespread raping of women in the military seems more prevalent during war time. I spent 6 years in the Army back in the late 70's and early 80's. There was not very much of that when I served. In fact, I only ever heard of a few women being raped by other military service members.

(emphasis mine)

This sounds a bit like "If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around, does it make a sound?" argument. Because female military personal are not reporting their rapes doesn't mean they aren't happening. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons why rapes are not reported in the military, just as they are not reported in civilian populations. Namely if you do choose to go through criminal courts to press charges, it is unlikely that the perpetrator will serve any serious jail time, and in some cases is acquitted. I think here on this forum we are aware of how the criminal justice system is structured and just who it benefits.

I imagine that being in the military is predicated on group solidarity. If you report the abuse of individual members within that group BY the group it would work to undermine the unity of identity, if not purpose.

 

[FireShadow]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

I think both (normal human) males and females are hardwired to protect non-combatants. However. the patriarchy system beats down men's emotions early on, making them easier to convert to "killing machines".

But women in the military need more brutality to accomplish that - hence the raping.

Rape is used as an act of psychological (think PTSD) and physical terror to ensure that people don't step out of line and to privilege those who engage in it. Hence, I think that the rapes happening in the military aren't an isolated occurrence and are more likely connected to the socialization of men (in Western society anyhow).

Directing the anger one feels at being oppressed by a psychopathic minority towards groups which have little to do with such oppression is a very clever way to divide and divert groups which would, given the chance, much more quickly detect the whole thing as a scam.

This widespread raping of women in the military seems more prevalent during war time. I spent 6 years in the Army back in the late 70's and early 80's. There was not very much of that when I served. In fact, I only ever heard of a few women being raped by other military service members.

(emphasis mine)

This sounds a bit like "If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around, does it make a sound?" argument. Because female military personal are not reporting their rapes doesn't mean they aren't happening. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons why rapes are not reported in the military, just as they are not reported in civilian populations. Namely if you do choose to go through criminal courts to press charges, it is unlikely that the perpetrator will serve any serious jail time, and in some cases is acquitted. I think here on this forum we are aware of how the criminal justice system is structured and just who it benefits.

I imagine that being in the military is predicated on group solidarity. If you report the abuse of individual members within that group BY the group it would work to undermine the unity of identity, if not purpose.

As you say you "imagine".

I was there. I lived with the other women. And I am not talking about hearing about rapes via their reporting to authorities. I am talking of how we were with each other. We lived in close proximity in the barracks and we had a lot of solidarity and talking of being aware of dangers of rape. We shared our feelings, dreams, fears, etc. I was stationed in 4 different bases in the U.S. and 2 different bases in Germany, so I have 6 different situations to base my observations on.

When someone was sexually harassed we all talked about it. In fact, we did have two incidences of "sexual harassment" that came to light in one base I was stationed at. The women talked to each other, it got reported. It was investigated and one was determined to be unfounded and one was definitely a case of sexual harassment and the perpetrator got punished. I knew the women and I knew the accused men.

When someone was assaulted, we talked about it. In fact, one other base I was stationed at, a woman got raped by a civilian and she let someone know. It got reported and she was given what she needed in terms of care. I know. I knew her, too.

Although, I realize there may have been a few rapes unknown to me, I do not think there were nearly as many as I hear about now. Since we knew each other quite well, we would notice when someone was acting strange (i.e. post trauma type reactions).

Our relations with the men were a lot more amiable as well. No, not perfect, but people seemed in general so much more caring about each other. We were a lot more like brothers and sisters than what I am seeing now.

As I was leaving the military in 1987, I was beginning to perceive a "hardness" and "coldness" beginning to evolve and I did not like it. One of the reasons I decided to get out.

On a side note: I was a taxi driver in Austin for almost 5 years from Jan 1997 to early 2002. I used to work downtown on the weekends (the party zone). Until around 2000, it was a lighter, friendlier atmosphere. Even the drunks were usually good-natured. I noticed around 2000, the mood got uglier. I had "fraternity" boys throw rocks at my car, jump fare (run away without paying), cuss me out, etc. Mostly it was the "frat boys", but the mood seemed to be contagious and more people became less friendly.

It was like a "stirring or waking of the beast" in terms of my perception of the energies over time.

I am convinced something changed. I think the sleeping beast woke up and became more active. Not to say that I think everything was all nice and happy before the 80's, it just became more obvious and widespread into the population over this time.

 

[Renaissance]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

Fireshadow, your response to Elly Kay seems aggressive with little room for discussion.

If you were having conversations about the issue everywhere you were stationed, that suggests to me the danger was prevalent.

As you say you "imagine".

I was there. I lived with the other women. And I am not talking about hearing about rapes via their reporting to authorities. I am talking of how we were with each other. We lived in close proximity in the barracks and we had a lot of solidarity and talking of being aware of dangers of rape. We shared our feelings, dreams, fears, etc. I was stationed in 4 different bases in the U.S. and 2 different bases in Germany, so I have 6 different situations to base my observations on.

When someone was sexually harassed we all talked about it. In fact, we did have two incidences of "sexual harassment" that came to light in one base I was stationed at. The women talked to each other, it got reported. It was investigated and one was determined to be unfounded and one was definitely a case of sexual harassment and the perpetrator got punished. I knew the women and I knew the accused men.

When someone was assaulted, we talked about it. In fact, one other base I was stationed at, a woman got raped by a civilian and she let someone know. It got reported and she was given what she needed in terms of care. I know. I knew her, too.

Although, I realize there may have been a few rapes unknown to me, I do not think there were nearly as many as I hear about now. Since we knew each other quite well, we would notice when someone was acting strange (i.e. post trauma type reactions).

Our relations with the men were a lot more amiable as well. No, not perfect, but people seemed in general so much more caring about each other. We were a lot more like brothers and sisters than what I am seeing now.

As I was leaving the military in 1987, I was beginning to perceive a "hardness" and "coldness" beginning to evolve and I did not like it. One of the reasons I decided to get out.

 

[FireShadow]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announces

Fireshadow, your response to Elly Kay seems aggressive with little room for discussion.

If you were having conversations about the issue everywhere you were stationed, that suggests to me the danger was prevalent.

In reading back over my post, I do see what you mean - it does read as a bit aggressive. I admit I felt a bit defensive when writing it. My self-importance got in the way, I felt as if she were "telling me I did not know what I was talking about". I apologize for my "knee-jerk" reaction.

However, I mentioned the discussions to illustrate that we had open lines of communication with each other and discussed these topics when the need arose. I did not mean to convey that we talked about this everyday.

And, most of the time we talked of the dangers of rape, it was usually related to the dangers going off post into the cities. Especially when new women arrived on post. We were encouraged to travel with at least one companion.

To be honest, I cannot think of a time that anyone I knew was raped by another military person.

 

[Elly Kay]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

Hey FireShadow,

Thank you for elaborating about your time spent in the military and your experiences therein. My post was not meant to question whether your claims were factual or any doubt that you experienced them.

And, most of the time we talked of the dangers of rape, it was usually related to the dangers going off post into the cities. Especially when new women arrived on post. We were encouraged to travel with at least one companion.

Am I correct in understanding that you were discussing the fear of and cases of female military personal being raped and sexually harassed by civilians?

From what I've been hearing and reading, cases of rape in the military have escalated since the Iraq war. What is it about the Iraq war that is so different in comparison with other conflicts that it has encouraged this kind of behavior?

 

[FireShadow]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

Hey FireShadow,

Thank you for elaborating about your time spent in the military and your experiences therein. My post was not meant to question whether your claims were factual or any doubt that you experienced them.

And, most of the time we talked of the dangers of rape, it was usually related to the dangers going off post into the cities. Especially when new women arrived on post. We were encouraged to travel with at least one companion.

Am I correct in understanding that you were discussing the fear of and cases of female military personal being raped and sexually harassed by civilians?

From what I've been hearing and reading, cases of rape in the military have escalated since the Iraq war. What is it about the Iraq war that is so different in comparison with other conflicts that it has encouraged this kind of behavior?

Elly Kay, I am so sorry to have come off so aggressively. Apparently one of my programs got triggered. Still have a lot of work to do on my self-importance.

And, yes, most of those discussions were regarding danger of getting raped by civilians.

Not all bases were near dangerous cities. The one I am thinking of in particular was Ft. Jackson, South Carolina near Columbia. We were told upon arrival there to be careful and travel in groups. Indeed, the one rape I mentioned previously happened there in Columbia. A female soldier was returning to base alone and was raped by civilians (two of them, I think).

And, as for the cases of rape seeming to escalate since Iraq war, that was the point I was originally trying to make - I just did not do a very good job of it! I note that when my self-importance gets in the way, not only do I get more aggressive - apparently, I lose the ability to think and communicate clearly and accurately.

I am not trying to say that there were never problems. I did occasionally hear rumors of sexual harassment, but other than the two cases I mentioned, none were involving anyone I knew personally.

And, we did have a lot of guys saying women did not belong in the military. I think perhaps, I have some sensitivity/defensiveness there as well. Many of my fellow female soldiers and I worked very hard to "be considered as good as the men" and I seem to have some leftover feelings about that.

Shane, thank you for pointing this out to me so very quickly. The shock brought me back to myself and it was close enough in time that I was able to see my program so much more clearly.

 

[Elly Kay]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

No hard feelings FireShadow :)

Discussions where rape is involved can sometimes get kind of ugly. This is one of the more civilized ones I've had. I wanted to get a better understanding of your initial post on this thread so, thank you again for elaborating.

In regards to the escalation, perhaps with political ideologies swinging towards fascism there is more of a need to enforce strict, stratified positions of power with more violence.

 

[FireShadow]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

No hard feelings FireShadow :)

Discussions where rape is involved can sometimes get kind of ugly. This is one of the more civilized ones I've had. I wanted to get a better understanding of your initial post on this thread so, thank you again for elaborating.

In regards to the escalation, perhaps with political ideologies swinging towards fascism there is more of a need to enforce strict, stratified positions of power with more violence.

Thank you for your gracious reply.

In regards to the escalation...you may be right.

 

[Johnno]

Re: Army ‘revisiting’ ban on female soldiers in combat units, Gen. Casey announc

On a side note: I was a taxi driver in Austin for almost 5 years from Jan 1997 to early 2002. I used to work downtown on the weekends (the party zone). Until around 2000, it was a lighter, friendlier atmosphere. Even the drunks were usually good-natured. I noticed around 2000, the mood got uglier. I had "fraternity" boys throw rocks at my car, jump fare (run away without paying), cuss me out, etc. Mostly it was the "frat boys", but the mood seemed to be contagious and more people became less friendly.

It was like a "stirring or waking of the beast" in terms of my perception of the energies over time.

This was about the same time as the introduction of energy drinks to the USA. Just a thought.