“Very Democratic”: US and British Press Hail “Liberal Policy” which Allows Women to Fight in the Frontline

Propaganda Alert

By Cem Ertür
Global Research, January 26, 2013
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Excerpts from:

Equality at the front line: Pentagon is set to lift ban on women in combat roles

by Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker,

New York Times, 25 January 2013

[U.S.] Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is lifting the military’s official ban on women [soldiers] in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said Wednesday.

The groundbreaking decision overturns a 1994 Pentagon rule that restricts women from artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles, even though in reality women have frequently found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan; according to the Pentagon, hundreds of thousands of women have deployed in those conflicts. As of last year, more than 800 women [soldiers] had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died.  […]The decision clearly fits into the broad and ambitious liberal agenda, especially around matters of equal opportunity, that President Obama laid out this week in his Inaugural Address.

 

New York Times, 24 January 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/us/pentagon-says-it-is-lifting-ban-on-women-in-combat.html?pagewanted=print

 

Excerpts from:  

Women troops on march towards frontline combat

Armed forces set to follow US example by 2017

by Deborah Haynes, The Times, 25 January 2013

Women in the British military are likely to be allowed to serve in combat units after a ground-breaking decision by the United States to lift a ban on frontline female fighters.

Britain must review its policy of preventing female soldiers from applying for certain jobs within four years.  […]Jim Murphy, the [Labour Party’s] Shadow Defence Secretary  (*) , urged the [Conservative Party] Government to review Britain’s ban on women participating in the sharpest end of warfare.  […]”We in Britain must maximise everyone’s talent and courage for our military and so should look again at UK policy” [said Mr Murphy.]Women soldiers, sailors and aircrew already undertake a wide range of tasks that put them in the line of fire, including as medics, intelligence officers and fighter pilots. They will also soon serve on submarines.

The Times, 25 January 2013

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