com international reporter Kari Huus was spurred by video of POWs aired by Iraq television, including U.S. Army Spc. Shoshawna Johnson, the first woman listed as a POW in this conflict. .
The article highlighted the fact that the public is seeing women in military roles closer to the front lines than ever before because of a 1994 legal change that opened up many military positions and units to them.
Since the posting of the story online, the dramatic rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a colleague of Johnson and others ambushed when their convoy from the 507th Maintenance Company made a wrong turn in south-central Iraq, has been in the headlines. The fate of the others missing from the company is not yet certain. .
Lynch's story sparked another wave of e-mail " further testimony to the gut-level emotions the topic elicits.
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PRACTICAL MERITS OF WOMEN IN WAR.
I served with many women in the USAF from 1992 to 1996 and I would have no problem fighting side by side with them. The old school may say it hurts morale. On the contrary, what hurts morale is living in the past and propagating old stereotypes. Women can fight and women have a "sense- that many men do not have that would be useful in combat situations. " Robert F. Davis.
(W)omen have fought for our country from its inception and continue to distinguish themselves in every role open to them in the military. Do women have a role in the military? Ask General Meyers. He will tell you we cannot fight a war without women. It cannot be done. " Mary Wamsley, Denver.
I believe the best thing to do is not have women deployed to Iraq in the first place. The problem that is going on now is we downsized our military and brought in more women. That to me shows we have weakened it with all these liberal policies the left wing has imposed on us. " John Walsh, SFC U.S. Army, Retired.
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PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS.