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A post from Double X writer Meredith Simons:
It looks like the war on terror might not reshape just how Americans fight overseas, but also how academics fight in the classroom. Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy has been writing about the influx of vets who served in Iraq and Afghanistan into Middle Eastern studies programs in the United States. Lynch's remarks hint at a fear among some academics that this new wave of presumably pro-government, pro-gun students might shift international studies departments to the right ... (Read more in Double X.)
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CBS News has discovered that both the Army and the Marines have given "moral waivers" to men who have been convicted of rape and sexual assault—related felonies—despite an initial denial from the principal undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, Michael Dominguez. In the clip below, Katie Couric talks to a former military medic named Wendy who was sexually assaulted twice while serving abroad. According to CBS:
Wendy’s experience is not unusual. Since 2002, the Miles Foundation, a private non-profit that tracks sexual assault within the armed forces, has received nearly 1,200 confidential reports of sexual assaults in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan. Those reports have increased as much as 30 percent a year.
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According to new research in International Studies Quarterly, "members of households with girls tend to be less isolationist, more open to using military means to prosecute foreign policy, and more likely to feel that ongoing conflicts have been beneficial on net than are those who live with boys." Robert Urbatsch, a professor of political science at Iowa State, analyzed data on household composition and political opinions included in the 2004 National Election Study. Controlling for income, religiosity, and education, he found that people in households with girls (a proxy for "parents with daughters") had foreign policy views similar to those of people in households without children. In contrast, people in households with boys reported being significantly less hawkish and more isolationist than both groups—possibly because it is young men who are most likely to enlist. Parents of boys may find the prospect of war more personally threatening.
This seems like a good time to quote Plutarch's "Sayings of Spartan Women":
One woman sent forth her sons, five in number, to war, and, standing in the outskirts of the city, she awaited anxiously the outcome of the battle. And when someone arrived and, in answer to her inquiry, reported that all her sons had met death, she said, "I did not inquire about that, you vile varlet, but how fares our country?" And when he declared that it was victorious, "Then," she said, "I accept gladly also the death of my sons."
Would Spartans with daughters be more intense?
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I love Tom Peter's article on the rising number of people getting tattoos in Iraq. So now I'm
keeping my fingers crossed that next season's tattoo drama will be out
of the Middle East - "Baghdad Ink" has such a great ring to it.
It is amazing to think about the fact that there is now a whole
generation of people in Iraq contemplating things like tatoos, tv, and
who to vote for - people who just six years ago lived under a level of
opression and fear that's hard for my independent American mind to even
grasp. That something like being able to get a tattoo makes headlines
is itself a little mind blowing.
And regardless of political opinions about the war, hopefully
stories like this will help people to be able to recognize some of the
incredible change the Iraq war has brought about. Obama did last week
in his speech at Camp Lejeune when he said, "Under tough circumstances, the men and women of the United States
military have served with honor, and succeeded beyond any expectation." Well said, Obama!
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I'm encouraged by the announcement from the Department of Defense yesterday about the nomination of Army Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to the position of four-star general. If the Senate confirms her nomination, Dunwoody will be the first woman to attain a status that historically has been achieved through combat jobs, which women are not allowed to hold. What's especially promising about her nomination is the fact that the government lifted its own barrier to recognize her achievements and capabilities by allowing her to circumvent the combat route.
Still, there is plenty of progress left to be made. Only five women have attained the next status beneath Dunwoody's, that of lieutenant general, as CNN reported. Dunwoody's success shows potential, but having one woman at the top does not change the fact that so many others ranking below her have yet to rise up.
I wonder how long it will take for other women in the military to move up the ranks as Dunwoody has over the last 33 years. Her nomination was announced the same day The New York Times reported that women in the military are more likely to suffer under the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which requires gay members of the military not to reveal their sexual identity. According to the Times article, the percentage of women discharged from the Army last year under that policy increased from 35 percent to 46 percent, although females only make up 14 percent of the Army as a whole. How can women battle gender stereotypes to attain the top positions if many of them are being kicked out due to other types of discrimination?
In an ideal world, Dunwoody's nomination will shatter that glass ceiling for all of her talented female comrades to follow in her wake; in reality, it may take a while for women to be treated equally alongside their male counterparts in the military. Let's hope for the former. And if we reach that goal, perhaps the United States will be ready to reconsider the prospect of a female commander in chief by the 2012 presidential election.
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