Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Criminalizing Pregnancy
james g. keegan jr.
Friday 25 December 2009
by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
rescinded following an outcry from women�s groups and fierce criticism
by four Democratic lawmakers.
According to a report published on ABC News� website Friday, "Gen.
Raymond Odierno has drafted a broad new policy for the US forces in Iraq
that will take effect Jan. 1, but which does not include a provision
issued last month by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo that disciplined both
soldiers who became pregnant and their military sex partners."
Odierno is the top US commander in Iraq.
As Truthout reported earlier this week, the pregnancy policy, in effect
since November 4, said "becoming pregnant, or impregnating a soldier,
while assigned to the Task Force Marne (Area of Operations), resulting
in the redeployment of the pregnant soldier" could result in a
court-martial and jail time.
The rule applied to "all United States military personnel, and to all
civilians, serving with, employed by, or accompanying" the Army in
northern Iraq. Current military policy requires that a pregnant soldier
be taken out of Iraq within 14 days. Married couples serving together
are allowed to live together, but if the wife becomes pregnant that too
is a prosecutable offense under the Army policy.
Since the policy has been in place, Cucolo told ABC News, that four
female soldiers had to be redeployed because they became pregnant.
According to ABC News:
The four women and two male soldiers received letters of reprimand
that will not remain in their permanent military files.
A third male soldier, he said, was also punished for getting a
female soldier pregnant. He was a noncommissioned officer who was
committing adultery. He was also charged with fraternization and given a
permanent letter of reprimand. In that case, the man was a sergeant and
the female a junior soldier.
One of the pregnant women declined to identify the person who got
her pregnant, Cucolo said.
In lengthy response to Truthout�s report, Cucolo acknowledged that the
guidelines he put into place would not fully be understood by civilians,
but he defended it, saying he "need[s] every Soldier I've got,
especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission.
Anyone who leaves this fight earlier than the expected 12-month
deployment creates a burden on their teammates."
"My female Soldiers are absolutely invaluable, many of them holding
high-impact jobs that are often few in numbers, and we need them all for
the duration of this deployment...," Cucolo said in an email sent to
truthout. "Since I am responsible and accountable for the fighting
ability of this outfit, I am going to do everything I can to keep my
combat power -- and in the Army, combat power is the individual Soldier.
"To this end, I made an existing policy stricter. I wanted to encourage
my Soldiers to think before they acted, and understand their behavior
and actions have consequences -- all of their behavior. I consider the
male Soldier as responsible for taking a Soldier out of the fight just
as responsible as the female Soldier who must redeploy."
Last Tuesday, four senators sent a letter to Secretary of the Army John
McHugh said the order was "deeply misguided" and demanded that it
immediately be rescinded.
"We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military
career than the image of a pregnant woman being severely punished simply
for conceiving a child," says the letter, signed by Senators Barbara
Boxer, (D-California), Barbara Mikulski, (D-Maryland), Jeanne Shaheen,
(D-New Hampshire), and Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-New York).
Groups such as the National Organization of Women (NOW) also condemned
Cucolo�s order. In an interview with Truthout intern Yana Kunichoff,
Terry O'Neill, NOW�s president said it�s "not up to the United States
military to determine when and how often women will become pregnant, or
determine whether a women carries a pregnancy to term or not."
ABC News said US military leaders in Iraq "conducted a full review of
all existing orders as part of the ongoing transition in Iraq, and a new
general order has been drafted," which does not include the pregnancy
policy.
Dänk 1010011010
> Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Criminalizing Pregnancy
>
> Friday 25 December 2009
> by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
>
> A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
> commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
> rescinded following an outcry from women¹s groups and fierce criticism
> by four Democratic lawmakers.
So now all a female soldier has to do to get out of combat duty is get
pregnant. Since gender discrimination is forbidden, this means a male
soldier who gets someone pregnant is also excused from duty.
The only way to prevent this outcome is to court-martial any soldier
who disrupts his/her unit with a pregnancy. Birth control is readily
available, so there is no excuse for an unplanned pregnancy. Since
the pregnancy is deliberate, this means the soldier is using it in an
attempt to get out of his/her enlistment contract, which should be a
punishable offense.
One alternative would be to send pregnant female soldiers into combat,
which I suspect would also be an unpopular decision. Another is to
forcibly abort the pregnancy, also an unpopular option. This leaves a
rule forbidding pregnancy, and punishing soldiers who violate it. Of
course, pregnant soldiers facing punishment would be likely to claim
rape where none occurred.
james g. keegan jr.
<3051a436-e0f6-4297...@a10g2000pre.googlegroups.com>,
would you like to talk about your problems with women?
william mosco
[Raspberry]. Waffler...
Dr. Michael Mancini
james g. keegan jr. <jgke...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:jgkeegan-BA9256...@news.individual.net...
> Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Criminalizing Pregnancy
>
> Friday 25 December 2009
> by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
>
> A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
> commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
> rescinded following an outcry from women�s groups and fierce criticism
> by four Democratic lawmakers.
Oh my God, can't do anything to anger Democratic lawmakers. They might do
something to damage America in retaliation, like pass socialized medicine.
By the way, what does this have to do with abortion? Does Junior have an
abortion fetish?
--Dr. Michael Mancini
Ray Fischer
>james g. keegan jr. <jgke...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> Friday 25 December 2009
>> by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
>>
>> A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
>> commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
>> rescinded following an outcry from women�s groups and fierce criticism
>> by four Democratic lawmakers.
>
>Oh my God, can't do anything to anger Democratic lawmakers. They might do
>something to damage America in retaliation, like pass socialized medicine.
You wingnuts sure are crazy. For some bizerre reason you think that
anything that helps Americans is going to destroy America.
--
Ray Fischer
rfis...@sonic.net
william mosco
12 trillion in debt and marxist Ray thinks more debt will help
Americans. Moron.
james g. keegan jr.
<6412e151-75e4-496e...@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com>,
william mosco <wm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ray Fischer wrote:
> > Dr. Michael Mancini <don...@windstream.net> wrote:
> > >james g. keegan jr. <jgke...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > >> Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Criminalizing Pregnancy
> > >>
> > >> Friday 25 December 2009
> > >> by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
> > >>
> > >> A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
> > >> commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
> > >> rescinded following an outcry from women?s groups and fierce criticism
> > >> by four Democratic lawmakers.
> > >
> > >Oh my God, can't do anything to anger Democratic lawmakers. They might do
> > >something to damage America in retaliation, like pass socialized medicine.
> >
> > You wingnuts sure are crazy. For some bizerre reason you think that
> > anything that helps Americans is going to destroy America.
>
> 12 trillion in debt and marxist Ray thinks more debt will help
> Americans. Moron.
there's nazi-bot billy trying to penalize women for becoming pregnant. i
wonder if his years as a trucker are the cause of his hatred and
disrespect for women?
william mosco
james g. keegan jr. wrote:
That's all you got? You're an imbecile.
Ray Fischer
How did the US get $12 trillion in debt, nazi boy? Come on: I'm sure
that you know the answer. The only question is whther you can say it
without lying your pro-war pro-torture ass off.
--
Ray Fischer
rfis...@sonic.net
james g. keegan jr.
<5724f7f2-a918-404f...@c3g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>,
william mosco <wm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
if it makes you feel better about yourself and your hatred of women, you
cna keep calling me names.
william mosco
Your response was imbecilic, therefore you must be an imbecile; how I
feel is irrelevant.
william mosco
Ray Fischer wrote:
> william mosco <wm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Ray Fischer wrote:
> >> Dr. Michael Mancini <don...@windstream.net> wrote:
> >> >james g. keegan jr. <jgke...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >> >> Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Criminalizing Pregnancy
> >> >>
> >> >> Friday 25 December 2009
> >> >> by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
> >> >>
> >> >> A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general
> >> >> commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was
> >> >> rescinded following an outcry from women�s groups and fierce criticism
> >> >> by four Democratic lawmakers.
> >> >
> >> >Oh my God, can't do anything to anger Democratic lawmakers. They might do
> >> >something to damage America in retaliation, like pass socialized medicine.
> >>
> >> You wingnuts sure are crazy. For some bizerre reason you think that
> >> anything that helps Americans is going to destroy America.
> >
> >12 trillion in debt
>
> How did the US get $12 trillion in debt, nazi boy? Come on: I'm sure
> that you know the answer.
By the policies of DC (both parties), which is totally irrelevant to
my objection; something you seem to have a habit of doing.
james g. keegan jr.
<07c58d33-eb6b-4fb1...@q2g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>,
william mosco <wm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
like i said, "if it makes you feel better about yourself and your hatred
of women, you can keep calling me names.
Avoid normal situations.
> nazi
BZZT.
*thread plonk*
--
alt.flame Special Forces
"The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull. That is not always
easy to achieve." -- Dean Acheson
Ray Fischer
william mosco
Ha! Projection.
william mosco
How I feel about you acting imbecilic is irrelevant.
Ray Fischer
william mosco
Is prior bad behavior justification for more bad behavior?
Ray Fischer
Oh, helping Americans through difficult economic times caused by
conservatives is now "bad behavior".
Got it.
Why do you hate America?
--
Ray Fischer
rfis...@sonic.net
james g. keegan jr.
<21b6c7e7-0fc5-4327...@j4g2000yqe.googlegroups.com>,
william mosco <wm5...@gmail.com> wrote:
like i said, "if it makes you feel better about yourself and your hatred
william mosco
Oh bull shit. Forcing Citizens to purchase a product by threat of
fnes and jail does not help anyone. It's unconstitutional for the
federal government to force people to buy something.
> caused by conservatives is now "bad behavior".
>
Prove your claim that the world wide recession was caused specifically
by conservatives or shut up. There's been a democratic controlled
Congress for almost 7 years, wind bag, and congress controls the
purse.
> Got it.
>
Yeah, but you don't.
> Why do you hate America?
Why do you hate freedom and love forced redistribution policies
reminiscent of Castro's cuba and the old Soviet system?
Oh, let me guess what your reply will be: they did it wrong we know a
better way how to force providers to give to recipients, we can make
everyone equally miserable.
william mosco
james g. keegan jr.
william mosco
james g. keegan jr.
william mosco
james g. keegan jr.
Ray Fischer
william mosco
I don't, that's why I don't advocate using governmental force to
confiscate property from productive Americans, you do.
Dr. Michael Mancini
Hatred of women. The pot is calling the kettle black, James.
Avoid normal situations.
[..]
> >Oh my God, can't do anything to anger Democratic lawmakers. They might do
> >something to damage America in retaliation, like pass socialized medicine.
> You wingnuts sure are crazy. For some bizerre reason you think that
> anything that helps Americans is going to destroy America.
Is anyone talking about the *real* problem with medical care -- that it's
being priced right out of everyone's ability to afford it?
The bitching about citizens being bankrupted by long-term health costs may
never end. That, of course, is not a good thing, but shifting those costs to
the government may wind up, in the long run, bankrupting the government
instead. That's not a good thing, either, and may actually have much more
serious consequences. Do the words "partition of Poland" ring a bell?
Much is made, also, about insurance companies keeping profits high by
refusing to pay for their clients' needed medications and procedures. How
do we know that the government *isn't* going to stiff people for the same
reasons? Or for political ones? What if they start finding technicalities
that enable them to deny needed care to anyone who isn't white?
Geez, what a great Dead Kennedys song this could be...
--
alt.flame Special Forces
"The penalty of success is to be bored by people who used to snub you."
-- Nancy Astor
elizabeth
<byend.removethisbityousillyper...@eskimo.com> wrote:
We are the government.