Is there really any possibility that women will fight alongside ground troops?
Kingsley Browne: It’s an issue that could be substantially affected by the 2008 presidential election. It has come up in the Democratic debates, and the candidates expressed doubts about excluding women from any military positions. If you talk to the military brass, they are always very supportive of women in their ranks. For the last couple of decades one doesn’t advance very far up the ladder without demonstrating a clear commitment to the advancement of women. There are a lot of military people who think women in combat is a horrible idea, but it’s career suicide to say it. Many think they shouldn’t be on warships or flying combat missions. You go one step further and argue that women shouldn’t be part of forward-deployed support units. Today the Department of Defense policy excludes women from being embedded within the infantry, but that policy is being routinely violated. There are many tasks that women perform in Iraq and Afghanistan where the enemy is trying to attack them. When
