in more than 10 years of the Vietnam war we had 6 women killed in action

[pwb]

72 women have died in iraq. women dying in combat really bothers me. in Nam the 6 killed were nurses or volunteers. in iraq they are in combat support roles, truck drivers, aviation, etc working outside the green zone and being blown away by the insurgents.

readers here,... please discuss the war more often, rove is distracting us with the election that is two years away. how long do we fall for this distraction. silly things like the size of a house.

we need to stop this war and stop bush from instigating a war with Iran.

if i could i would give us all a shake, we need to wake up.

we need to unite, all parties, against the neocons.

peace....now there is a word we don't hear much anymore.

all we hear is the anti-peace talking points. the latest seems to be embolden the enemy, which means what? our military defeated Iraq's military in 1990 and again in 2003, we won. let's have a parade.

there is no enemy left to stand and fight us. all that is left are the insurgents, who, to me are people that just want us out of their country,

[sweetheart]

1. given that women make up over 50% of the population

and that iraq has women in its civilian population, the claim that only 72 women have
died in iraq due to the conflict is entirely bogus and not in keeping with more than 50%
of 700,000 civilian casualties.

The ethnocentric racism of declaring the numbers dead (of paid rapists), whilst leaving out
the victem population chews at the roots of our greater humanity.

[pwb]

3. i was referring to american war casualities.

[sweetheart]

8. does humanity stop with a passport?

I recognize where your point comes from, in a militaristic society... but this is 'progressive-land' where
all persons are recognized as equal... and we count the victems with the rapists.

All of the people i'm discussing are american war casulaties as well, you're just abusing english in a culturally
convenient fashion.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Hosnon]

18. You honestly don't understand what the OP was trying to say?

I hardly see it as abusing the English language. By "American War Casualties" the OP means war casualties that are Americans, not war casualties caused by Americans or casualties caused by the American War.

Edit: Upon further review, I see where you admit you get what the OP was trying to say. However, I still do not see it as abusing the English language.

[TahitiNut]

7. Likewise, Charlie was accompanied by Charlene in Viet Nam.

:shrug:

[Virginia Dare]

2. I remember back about 20-30 years ago...

when the main argument against the Equal Rights Amendment was that women would be drafted, and the idea of women fighting and dieing in combat was repugnant to many people. We got over that rather quickly, didn't we?

[pwb]

4. like Pavlov's dog

[justiceischeap]

5. My take on this is one death is too many

Whether it be women or men.

A woman who serves her country has just as much chance of dying in combat as her male counterparts and since we've heard so much lately that many of our soldiers are serving in ways they weren't trained for, if this surge isn't stopped, I think we'll be seeing more women dying in combat as well as their male counterparts and more innocent civilians.

[RB TexLa]

6. American soldiers value is not different by gender, race, or anything else

[Sal Minella]

9. Today we buried the highest-ranking woman in the Iowa National Guard.

She was in her forties, leaves behind a husband and children and step-children.

http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=D2&Dato=20070130&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=701300803&Ref=PH&Item=3&Maxw=450&maxH=450&border=0

Caption: Military funeral for Command Sergeant Major Marilyn Gabbard

Overall view of the Boone High School gym during the service. Funeral of Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn Gabbard, the first female member of the Iowa National Guard to be killed in combat when the Blackhawk helicopter she was in crashed Jan. 20 northeast of Baghdad. REGISTER PHOTO BY DOUG WELLS 01/30/07 Boone, Iowa.

[pwb]

12. i know. she was the reason for my post.

[ohio2007]

10. You won't like this link if your fear is women going into combat

All-female U.N. peacekeeping unit arrives in Liberia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070130/wl_nm/liberia_un_dc

103 women from India

[pwb]

13. i don't like it

some hear argue in favor strangely enough.

[lukasahero]

14. Yes some "hear" argue in favor of equal rights

And equal responsibilities. Women are as capable of serving in combat as men and one man's life is equal in worth to one woman's. Not sure why a woman's death would mean more to you than a man's. Every death in this illicit war is stain upon this country.

[Heidi]

15. Thank you.

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[Sirveri]

20. I agree in principle, but women are not treated equaly today.

When I went through boot camp, even though females made up at most 10-20% of a 'integrated' division, the vast majority of integrated divisions had a female recruit in charge of the division, not because they were better, but because the drill instructors wanted to appear 'diverse' (this occured in classroom environments as well). On the last leg of my training pipeline certain people were picked up for additional training. Every single female mechanic was picked up for that additional training (mechanics were the only eligable people for this training). Males were also picked up for that training, however females aren't allowed on submarines, thus disproportionately skewing the surface numbers. While I do respect some of the military females I know, I have also seen several engage in catty in-fighting that was out right corrosive and destructive towards morale. Males tend to simply punch each other or have a confrontation and blow it all out at once, which isn't exactly great, but tends to be much faster and doesn't destroy espirit de corps. What it all boils down to is that the way the military approaches females and the actions of some of the female service members (bad apples DO spoil it for others) I have seen has severly shaken my opinions on gender equality issues with regards to the military.

[Bonobo]

16. They count more because they have different shaped sexual organs?

[Sapere aude]

19. I believe there were many non combat American women killed in Vietnam also

There is a memorial to them just next to the Wall in DC.


When I was in Vietnam we had red cross women (girls actually, they were no older than we were)that worked in our day rooms organizing pool tournaments and such for the wounded. They received no pay. I asked one why she was doing it and what she was paid. She said that she wanted to do something for her country too and volunteered and was paid with a new uniform.

[ohio2007]

21. as well as over 58,000 men in ten years

not all may have been directly combat related deaths but thats almost 6,000 deaths per year
...compared to what equals less than one death per year....
it's not worth the argument.
om a side note,out of necessity, the IDF needed as many able bodied men as well as women to defend their sliver of middle east soil. And I would gladly accept a woman covering my ass in combat as long as she is trained in combat.