Women in Combat.

Awhile back Leon Panetta, the defense secretary, announced the ban against women in combat will be lifted and women will…be able to serve in combat.

At last! Women can have the same rights and responsibilities as man and be able to shoulder the same weight concerns and be just as though and just as awesome as their male counterparts.

But this decision has touched off a large debate in the country over whether or not this is a good thing, or whether or not this is a thing that we should be doing in the first place. Or if Leon Panetta is doing this in the right way, just going straight into it without passing go, and without collecting his two hundred dollars.

Glenn Beck, a couple of weeks ago, featured this debate on the blaze. He is against it, and the reasons he is against it, is roughly that the military’s job is to make war and crush our enemies, not to be a PC firm. He went onto make several other claims for his argument, and acknowledged that women made good officers, sharp shooters, and some of them could even be tougher then he was.

This seems to indicate that he has no problem with women being in the military, just not on the so-called frontlines

Now just so no one is confused I do think there is nothing wrong with women serving in combat, ultimately, I wonder why the push exists for this and I wonder why this is so vital at this point in time, but if you want to pick up a rifle and defend your country, I have no problem with it.

But I think we are having the wrong debate. And what is interesting is that Glenn did touch off on the issue. That the primary mission of the military is to…well…engage in combat. And kill the enemy.

This is the one reason I do not want to join the military because I do not have the temperament for it.

Despite the reassurance that there are supply jobs, and armed forces radio, and military intelligence, and then maintenance of military technology, the primary purpose of the military is to engage in combat and kill the enemy. It is the job of every single United States Soldier to pick up the rifle and defend themselves in the event of an attack on their base or their mission or their country.

This is a fundamental fact of military life, because the mere fact you are in the United States military makes you a target of this nation’s enemies, most of whom do not give two whiffs if you are a ‘non combatant’…or a woman.

This was demonstrated by the Jessica Lynch story during the Iraq War, and others.

Women in combat is now a fact of life, especially considering the front lines are largely a thing of the past.

So the issue is, should women be in combat, or should they even be in the military? If we are going to have a serious argument about the former then we need to consider the latter.

For if women are to serve in the military, then they will be in combat, Leon Pannetta seems to be acknowledging this fact.