Pregnant soldiers leaving Iraq

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Pregnant soldiers leaving Iraq
73
Thu, 06-17-2004 - 4:14pm
Women in the military....well at least they are good for morale.


http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/003200406170322.htm

Pregnant soldiers leaving Iraq, US "unaware of numbers"

Washington, June 17. (PTI): Many U.S. women soldiers in Iraq are leaving the frontline and returning home, but the Pentagon does not want to reveal their numbers as the "embarrassing" statistic includes unwed mothers, media reported on Wednesday.

"U.S. Central Command is not tracking the number of troops who must leave the Iraq war theatre due to pregnancy, prompting military advocates to charge that the Pentagon wants to keep secret what could be an embarrassing statistic," The Washington Times said in a report.

The paper said that there have been anecdotal reports of unmarried women soldiers becoming pregnant in Iraq. One military police unit reported losing three women for that reason.

Lynndie England, the 21-year-old photographed holding a leash attached to a naked Iraqi prisoner, became pregnant during an affair with another soldier at the Abu Ghraib prison compound in Iraq, it said.

But overall numbers are hard to come by. "We are definitely not tracking it," said a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which runs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I have been attending operations briefings for two years, and I don't think I have heard once that pregnancy has come up."

As in the case of England, said the paper, pregnancies can be embarrassing to the military. In May 2003, the Marine Corps was forced to bring a Marine back home after she gave birth on a Navy warship in the Persian Gulf. She told superiors that she did not know she was pregnant.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 11:13am
As I said earlier, capability isn't the issue. I am a woman and I know I am physically and mentally more capable than a number of men I know. That's NOT the issue. And, the issue isn't whether THOSE soldiers are at fault. Fault is immaterial. Just because a woman can make the same body count as a man doesn't mean it's good for the war overall. By the way, I have no opinion on whether or not women should be on the battlefield. I'm just opening up the issues because it seems like everyone here is looking at this from an ideological perspective which simply doesn't WORK in war because of the nature of war in the first place. Ideologies have their place, but when dealing with war, you have to be realistic with expectations.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 11:19am
"This sort of mentality makes me want to vomit!"

Why? Because "that sort of mentality" is the truth?

I've got an example for you: Jessica Lynch.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 11:37am

But the reality is...is that there ARE many soldiers (both male & female) who are capable of maintaining basic humanity while fighting a war.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 12:20pm
I don't have an argument AGAINST women in the military per se. I don't hold a definitive opinion either way. What I was bringing up was that most of the arguments on this thread was, well, it's the guy's fault too, they need to act better. That's not realistic. I DON'T think we can learn from our mistakes, treehugger. Brutality during war has been the reality since the history of mankind and will continue to be. We can't learn from our mistakes because we can't change our basic human nature.

You asked, "How much humanity will we give up in order to 'win'? Based on this administrations OBVIOUS plans to commit war crimes (evidenced by the resolution they made the UN sign barring them from charging us with war crimes), a whole lot.

Are all wars worth winning...or even beginning?" I don't think most wars are worth fighting. However, it is an option that we have used since the history of mankind,and I think we are going to keep on using it until we blow ourselves up.

P.S. I'm sorry you felt insulted by my comments - I must have been insulting myself, as I didn't know about the chemicals in the food until a reservist told me about it a few months ago. God bless.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 12:45pm
"(evidenced by the resolution they made the UN sign barring them from charging us with war crimes), "

Not quite: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3834089.stm

The ICC itself is a joke and no US citizen, soldier or not, should be subject to an International court. We have Constitutional rights and we should not be subjected to a UN court. We were right not to ratify it.

Jim

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 12:57pm

Actually, I wasn't insulted. I was just stating that I've 'been around' for a while myself and have experienced (although only secondhand) the ugliness of war.


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 1:05pm
"And I guess I just have higher hopes for humanity. I just keep hoping that we will eventually strive to raise the bar instead of constantly making excuses for lowering it."

Difficult or impossible to do, in a society where Moral Relativism is the norm and Absolute Morality is viewed with Disdain.

How do you raise the bar when there is no definitive standard telling us where to put the bar?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 1:06pm

<<>>


It may be YOUR truth, but it's not THE truth.

________________________________________________

"If you don't stand up for something, you'll lie down for anything." -- B

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 1:11pm
"It may be YOUR truth, but it's not THE truth. It's a chauvinistic and falsely noble IDEAL which has no logic or rationale attached to it - it's purely emotional."

Why is it a falsely noble Ideal. It is a noble Ideal. To hold the door for a woman, to walk nearest the street, to stand when she enters the room are all noble. There is nothing false about it. As a man I can tell you that I AM more compelled to help a woman in need than another man. There is logic and rationale attached to it, and yes it is emotional as well.

My son will be taught these "falsely noble ideals", by my words and my deeds.

My daughter will be taught that it isn't an insult to accept these ideals and to understand this treatment is not only normal but desireable.

Jim

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 1:18pm

I guess I don't need a 'definitive standard' or 'Absolute Morality' in order to believe we can better ourselves as a species.


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