The ill-advised decision of lame-duck Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to set in motion plans to force women into direct ground combat continued to cause controversy in the month of February, 2013.  the Center for Military Readiness anticipated that action to move the women in combat agenda forward might involve misinformation about the opinions of infantry and other land combat soldiers. 

The U.S. Marine Corps conducted a survey of troops in 2012, but did not reveal detailed findings.  CMR was aware of flaws in the survey instrument, and published an instant analysis of the brief summary of results that was released by the Center for Naval Analysis:

• Survey of Marines Fails to Show Support for Women in Direct Ground Combat Units

In February, many commentators criticized the Defense Department's moves to disregard and overturn policies that the Defense Department had endorsed only a year ago.

Commentaries and News: February, 2013

Feb. 1    Diane West, Washington Times: When Women Fight, Civilization Loses

Feb. 1    Fay Voshell & Jacqueline Hamilton, American Thinker 'Equality' on the Battlefield

Feb. 1    Rush Limbaugh: February 1, 2013,  Transcript: (Excerpt of lengthy discussion                           with concerned Dad)

"It was a Supreme Court decision, Rostker v. Goldberg, 1981. The combat exemption, women, if it's lifted, there is no constitutional reason to exclude women from the draft, if the ban on women in combat's lifted.  So get ready to sign up for the draft, ladies." 

Feb. 2   Julie Watson, AP, Marine Survey Lists Concerns on Women in Combat

Feb. 3   Kathleen Parker, Washington Post, Combat Women and Congress's Wimps

Excerpt: "That our Congress is accepting this change without any debate isn’t progress. It is a dereliction of duty and, one is tempted to say, suggestive of cowardice."

Feb. 4:  Mackubin Thomas Owens, Weekly Standard: Co-Ed Combat a Bad Idea

Excerpt:  "I doubt that there is a huge push on the part of female soldiers and Marines to join the infantry....The impetus comes instead from professional feminists still living in the 1970s and a small number of female officers who believe that serving in the infantry will increase the likelihood that they will become generals.  But the Pentagon itself points out that military women are already promoted at rates equal to or faster than men.  In short, there is no reason for this change.  It doesn’t make the military stronger, and risks making it weaker by undermining the factors crucial for combat effectiveness. "

Feb. 6   Walter Williams, Townhall: Women in Combat

Feb. 6   Jeffrey H. Anderson, Weekly Standard: Women in Combat is Civilizing?

Excerpt: "To accomplish this radical change in the psyches of male soldiers will require massive re-education. Will it fall upon parents to teach boys to stop playing gently with the girls? Will they teach their boys that girls must be treated the same — that it’s now OK to rough the girls up a bit? Somehow male soldiers are going to have to learn to stop protecting women."

Feb. 6   Jane Chastain: Cowards!

Feb. 7:    James Bascom, Tradition, Family & Property: Liberals' "War on Women"     

Feb. 8  Peter Farmer, Family Security Matters: A Slap in the Face

Feb. 8  Suzanne Fields, Washington Times, Forbidden Advice for Plain Jane in Combat

Feb. 8   Rorke Denver, Fox News:  Should Women be SEALs?

Feb. 8   Daily Caller: Poll: Most Women Believe They Should Not be Forced Into Combat

Feb. 11:  James Robert Webb, Women in the Infantry?

Feb. 12:  Richard Viguerie: GOP While Silent Obama Kills Defense of Marriage Act

Feb. 12  David Sayers, Family Security Matters, Women in Combat Roles -- A Non-Starter

Feb. 12  Donnelly, U.S. News & World Report: Drafting Women Will Weaken the Military 

Excerpt: "Unless Congress intervenes, a future court will impose Selective Service obligations on unsuspecting civilian women, on the same basis as men, despite findings that point to differences in women's physiology and performance capabilities. This will drive down tough training standards and weaken the military."

Feb. 18:  Matt Barber, Townhall: Women in Combat - Felony Stupid

Feb. 18:  Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, WorldNetDaily: Women in Foxholes

Feb. 20:  Peter Parisi, Washington Times - War Is Not An Equal Opportunity Employer

Feb. 20   Terry Jeffrey, Townhall: Commander in Chief Wages War on the Moral Law

Additional News and Items of Interest:

Mar. 15, 2012: DVIDS: Hip Injuries Plague Marines After Intense Training

Feb. 15:  The Hill: Rangel to Introduce Legislation Reinstating the Draft

Feb. 17:  Carol Cain, Detroit Free Press - "Should Women Serve in Infantry Combat Roles?"

More op-eds published in January, 2013, are posted elsewhere.

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