Wesley Down Under said:
Hey, we could agree to disagree all we want about women in combat arms units, torture and rape are simply that, but overall the general western public would be more horrified if a woman was taken prisoner, raped and tortured than a man.
I have an opinion, and the last thing I want to do is start a shytestorm over it. My post was just comparing the CF policy to the ADF policy, nothing more.
I am no longer a member of the CF, and they practice what they do, but here the current model used by the Australian Army works for us.
Cheers,
Wes
Wes,
No shitstorm here. At least you put out the policy rather than just prattle off about the evils of women. There's a big difference.
As a female though, here's how I see it.
YES, the western public would be truly horrified if a female soldier was taken prisoner, tortured and raped. I would hope though that they'd be just as horrified if this were to happen to a male soldier.
Say you have a lassie able to volunteer to do the job and who can perform in that role just as well as a man. She is precluded by policy from doing so. If the reason that the policy precludes her from doing so is based on public perception in the west and how bad they would react to her rape/torture etc then, ironically, the policy effectively would be catering to exactly those political and self-interest groups who
don't want to see that occur to a female and believe that only male soldiers should be subjected to this possibility. Despite the fact other political and other self-interest groups were told to keep out of the debate. I'd argue that no-one
ever wants to see that occur, to a male
or female soldier. Either way the decision goes, it IS catering to
someones beliefs and interests.
That's fine, as long as its catering for the right reasons. As a soldier, I'd hope those interests of the military I serve in, and their policy decisions, would be based upon the ability to soldier, warfight, and get the darn job done; not sex, and certainly not upon public, political, media, or even a fellow soldiers opinion about what the enemy
could do to me. The enemy
can do that to men too.
Edited for damn typos.