But Why Can't I Light This Match?

Because it's in a gasoline-filled room, stupid! So says Thomas Sowell and he is right. We're talking about the sex scandal in the American military which was predicted by many military professionals when putting women in combat situations was being discussed in Congress and at the Pentagon. PC Disclaimer: Sexual attacks by men on women are wrong - always - and never justified. Now with that out of the way, let's talk about the subject at hand.

The job of the American military is to break things and for the last several decades they have done their job very well. To do this the military takes young testosterone-fueled men, trains them to a knife's edge and puts the best weapons in the world in their hands. I know what it is like in football locker rooms getting ready for a big game. What we are talking about here is a football locker room on steroids - exponentially more intensity. That's the gasoline. 

The match is introducing young women into this highly explosive mix. It is not the women's fault, it is simply inevitable. Sowell makes a very good point: is our country better served by our combat commanders continuing to train their troops to perform their missions or trying to prevent the inevitable sexual fallout from occurring or picking up the pieces when it does? He argues that It is not in our long term national interest to have our military become a college co-ed dorm in olive drab or desert camo. I agree. 

It's a dangerous world out there. A hollow military will not get the job done when confronted by the military power of a country that doesn't concern itself with misguided social experiments. Are there places in the military where men and women can serve effectively? Sure. But not at the point of the spear. 

townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/06/12/sex-and-the-military-n1616932