An Army of Jessicas

according to much post-war commentary, the Iraqi Republican Guard wasn’t the only force decisively routed during Operation Iraqi Freedom: From coast to coast, editorial writers declare that the experiences of American military women in Iraq have defeated once and for all the critics of women in combat. The editorialists’ battle flag is emblazoned with the image of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the 19-year-old Army supply clerk who was rescued by a Special Ops team after ten days as a POW. In USA Today, a commentator argued that Pfc. Lynch’s ordeal alone proves “the time is right to blast through the armored ceiling that keeps women second-class citizens in the military.” An Orlando Sentinel columnist sees her as conclusive evidence that “women can be as fierce as men.”

These commentaries are generally ill informed and dishonest. They ignore the realities of our modem military and the civilian workforce, as well as human nature itself. Women already serve on combat aircraft and ships (but not submarines); many combat-support positions have been opened to women, and—owing to Clinton-era changes—the risk of close contact with the enemy no longer limits their assignments. The so-called armored ceiling prevents women only from serving in direct land-combat positions and special-forces units.

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Kate O'Beirne

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according to much post-war commentary, the Iraqi Republican Guard wasn’t the only force decisively routed during Operation Iraqi Freedom: From coast to coast, editorial writers declare that the experiences of American military women in Iraq have defeated once and for all the critics of women in combat. The editorialists’ battle flag is emblazoned with the image of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the 19-year-old Army supply clerk who was rescued by a Special Ops team after ten days as a POW. In USA Today, a commentator argued that Pfc. Lynch’s ordeal alone proves “the time is right to blast through the armored ceiling that keeps women second-class citizens in the military.” An Orlando Sentinel columnist sees her as conclusive evidence that “women can be as fierce as men.”

These commentaries are generally ill informed and dishonest. They ignore the realities of our modem military and the civilian workforce, as well as human nature itself. Women already serve on combat aircraft and ships (but not submarines); many combat-support positions have been opened to women, and—owing to Clinton-era changes—the risk of close contact with the enemy no longer limits their assignments. The so-called armored ceiling prevents women only from serving in direct land-combat positions and special-forces units.