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My Question of the Day for 15 December 2009
My Question of the Day: Should women be allowed to fight on the front lines alongside men in combat?
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If you signed up for the job you should be able to do it..
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LikeDislikeHmmm….though not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination-I do believe that if it truly the desire of the woman to be in the armed services she should experience what the male soldiers experience.
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LikeDislikeThe reason I say no is because of the emotion evoked when asking this question. Its not a yes or no question. Just like its no easy decisions on the battlefield, there are no easy answers to this question.
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LikeDislikeOf course! It’s their country – if they wish to defend it the way they know best, more power to them.
I enlisted in the AirForce – 1966 – would do the same today if I could.
It also places the concept of “war” in the proper place – a failure of male communication that ends up in a ‘game of hide & seek & death’ rather than that glorious male version that doesn’t show the blood/guts/gore – “for the WIN, for the WIN!”
There were frontline fighter pilots in the first Iraq war – women.
There were frontline helicopter pilots.
There were platoon leaders
There were front line grunts.
Oh, yes….some of them happened to be women.
That’s life.
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LikeDislikeI don’t agree md20737. In Israel, women are on the front lines. Is there a spike in pregnancy within their military? And are the men and women of the armed forces so weak that they allow carnal desires to cloud their judgement and duty? I don’t think so.
We have female police offers, corrections officers and firefighters…frontlines in a sense. Do they not do their jobs as well as their male counterparts? Is there a trend of indiscretion amongst their ranks? I don’t think so.
At the end of the day, as a woman, we fight for equal rights in the boardroom, in schools and everywhere else, why not the battlefield too? I feel like if we are all going to be equals that means we have to equally be willing to fight and die for our country. So yes, I do think women should and can join the front line.
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LikeDislikeOnce again I never mentioned not being qualified. I spoke about restraint. Please read my comment again. I do not know about Isreali troops personally. But I do have friends and family in the US troops, and they tell of the times they had while in boot camp, or where ever they are stationed. Many of them leave single come back married or pregnant. I think it would be foolish to put them together. When emergencies happen who get special treatment eldery, kids, and women. Men and women dont need to do everything together in order for women to have equal rights and be qualified. If I have a teacher that went to Morehouse and one who went to Spellman they are both equally qualified in my eyes, although they did not study together.
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LikeDislikeAgain md20737, would you say that MANY come back pregnant? I think that is highly unlikely and definitely not true. Coming from a family full of military people (army,navy and marines) and my current 11 year relationship with a member of the Air Force, NEVER have I heard of (and asked many of them the same thing) MANY single military women coming back pregnant. Please let us know which bases you are referring to, I know that this has happened in a VERY SMALL percentage of cases (one that comes to mind is Abu Grave) but no where close to be a huge percentage as you are suggesting. If that was the case, women would banned from the military all together, wouldn’t they? Come on now.
Also, are you ensuating that if one goes to a coed college that they would learn any less because there are both male and female professors present? Very interesting comment on your part. Please explain
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LikeDislikeMy comment about college was very clear nothing to interpret they are both qualified. If I have a teacher that went to Morehouse and one who went to Spellman they are both equally qualified in my eyes, although they did not study together. You see I said they are both equally qualified although they learned in 2 different settings. That is the point I was making.
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LikeDislikeBut you didn’t explain why you said what you said md20737. What was the point that you were trying to establish? Why separate out the sexes in that manner as well? Because again, you are not explaining why it would matter if it was a single-sex versus a coed learning experience. Please clarify.
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LikeDislikeI have to disagree with the last comment.
Why is it that so many people believe that women are not qualified to fight for our country, on the front lines if need be? A little self-control on the part of both the male and female soldiers is all it takes to make it a successful fighting team. Men must learn to accept women as equals – are these women not the same ones whose instinct is to fight to the death to protect their children in most instances? That same dedication to life should be applied to the front line on our battlefields. If the women choose to make the same sacrifice to protect our country, why shouldn’t they receive the same trust and respect to put it all on the line on that front line?
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LikeDislikeI didnt say women are not qualified. I said neither sex can stop themselves from focusing on each other. Its only natural that man and woman are attracted to each other. And to put them both in high stress, life threatening situation will breed feelings and emotions that everyone can not HANDLE OR CONTROL. Someone will act on them and be pregnant and deliver in times they should be focused. Its like putting men and women in class together they make goggly eyes, etc. Its only natural it happens. Except lives shouldnt be online while people learn how to practice restraint.
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LikeDislikeAgain I ask, do you truly believe that the members of our military are so weak that they would easily succumb to carnal desires even in the midst of battle? Come on.
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LikeDislikeMen and Women can never be in the same place and not be concerned with each other. They wont be focused and women will be pregnant on the battlefield.
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