The Pentagon’s decision to allow women to take on combat roles will provide more opportunities for women interested in the military, but not everyone believes that they are fit to serve on the front lines. Former Florida Rep. Allen West, an army veteran of 22 years, criticized the new policy on Thursday, calling it a “foray into an inequality trip.”
“To make the insidious policy decision that we shall now open up combat billets to women is something completely different,” West posted on Facebook. “GI Jane was a movie and should not be the basis for a policy shift. I know Martha McSally, have known women who are Apache and Cobra helicopter pilots, and served with women who were MPs, but being on the ground and having to go mano y mano in close combat is a completely different environment.”
“Unless the Obama administration has not noticed we are fighting against a brutal enemy and now is not the time to play a social experiment with our ground combat forces,” he added.
On Anderson Cooper 360, West compared the situation to the gender-based separation in professional sports leagues, leaving Cooper visibly confused.
“I have to tell you, if this is the case, then why do we have separate hockey leagues? Women should be out there playing ice hockey with the guys in the NHL. We should not have a WNBA. I can’t shoot a three-pointer, but there are ladies who could certainly take me to the hoop. Maybe they should be competing with Kobe Bryant.”
The Florida Republican left office earlier this month after losing his bid for re-election in November. Attack ads during the campaign struck at his poor track record on women’s issues, and a questionable letter sent to his wife damaged his reputation as well.
