Rummy's War

Even if I favored the war in Iraq, I would still be appalled by this. "The Army's Third Infantry Division has added scores of female soldiers to newly created 'forward support companies' that provide maintenance, food service, and other support services to infantry, armor, and Special Forces units that commonly engage in combat. Army officials acknowledge that the changes will increasingly place women, who make up about 15 percent of the armed forces, in combat situations, but believe they are following federal law, which prohibits female soldiers from serving in units that engage in direct combat."
It is, however, the logical outcome of Rumsfeld's management of the Pentagon. "The change made by the Third Infantry Division was prompted by a shortage of trained troops caused by the unexpected length of the Iraq war and has set off a quiet, but highly charged debate within the Army over the role of women in the military. As a practical matter, the guerrilla tactics used against US troops during the occupation have also blurred the traditional lines between combat and support functions and is expected to prompt a wholesale review of the definition of ground 'combat' within the Bush administration."
Fortunately, the president still has his bubble of unreality to exist in. "President Bush's policy on women in ground combat takes just four words to articulate: 'No women in combat.'"
Via the Corner.