All the more reason to allow Gays in the military -- Pregnant soldiers could face court-martial in Iraq

Posted by torianlwallace | Posted in | Posted on 8:29 PM

All the more reason to allow Gays in the military -- Pregnant soldiers could face court-martial in Iraq

Pregnant soldiers could face court-martial

Quote:

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Army general in northern Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialed.

The new policy, outlined last month by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo and released Friday by the Army, would apply to both female soldiers who become pregnant on the battlefield and the male soldiers who impregnate them.

Civilians reporting to Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the new guidelines.

Army spokesman George Wright said the service typically sends home from the battlefield soldiers who become pregnant. But it is not an Army-wide policy to punish them under the military's legal code, he said.

However, division commanders like Cucolo have the authority to impose these type of restrictions to personnel operating under their command, Wright said.

Cucolo oversees forces in northern Iraq, an area that includes the cities of Kirkuk, Tikrit and Mosul. His Nov. 4 order was first reported by the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Cucolo's order outlines some 20 barred activities. Most of them are aimed at keeping order and preventing criminal activity, such as selling a weapon or taking drugs.

But other restrictions seemed aimed at preventing soldiers from leaving their unit short-handed, including becoming pregnant or undergoing elective surgery that would prevent their deployment.

Under Cucolo's order, troops also are prohibited from "sexual contact of any kind" with Iraqi nationals. And, they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or expressly permitted to do so.

Serving U.S troops could face prison if they fall pregnant while active

Quote:

A top US commander is threatening soldiers who fall pregnant on active service with jail.

Under the new policy, troops expecting a baby face court martial and a possible prison term – and so do the men who made them pregnant.

And the rule applies to married couples at war together, who are expected to make sure their love lives do not interfere with duty.

Usual US Army policy is to send pregnant soldiers home from combat zones within 14 days.

But Major General Anthony Cucolo, who runs US operations in northern Iraq, issued the new orders because he said he was losing too many women with critical skills.

He needed the threat of court martial and jail time as an extra deterrent, he said.

All troops under his command are covered by the extension to the military's legal code – the first time the US Army has made pregnancy a punishable offence.

'I've got a mission to do, I'm given a finite number of soldiers with which to do it and I need every one of them,' Maj Gen Cucolo said.

'So I'm going to take every measure I can to keep them all strong, fit and with me for the twelve months we are in the combat zone.'

Married soldiers on active service should either put their love lives on hold or take precautions. It was a 'black and white' issue, he said.

Legal experts said the policy raised serious ethical questions.

'Here you really have issues that go to the core of personal integrity: reproductive rights,' said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School and is president of America's National Institute of Military Justice.

The prohibition was fraught with 'a mare's nest of legal, ethical and policy issues' highlighting the discord between personal autonomy and military needs, he said.

'You have to assume it's in response to a number of incidents that have caused female GIs to be sidelined at a time when they can't be spared.' Maj Gen Cucolo commands the US Army's division north in Iraq, including Balad, Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Kirkuk.

Court martial for pregnancy is not an Army-wide policy but division commanders have the authority to impose such restrictions, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Under Maj Gen Cucolo's order, troops also are prohibited from 'sexual contact of any kind' with Iraqi nationals.

And they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or with express permission.

The order outlines 20 barred activities, mostly to keep order and stem criminal activity, such as selling a weapon or taking drugs.

But other restrictions aim to stop soldiers leaving their unit short- handed, including becoming pregnant or undergoing elective surgery that would prevent their deployment.

The order does not specify how long any jail term should be.

'When a soldier becomes pregnant or causes a soldier to become pregnant through consensual activity, the redeployment of the pregnant soldier creates a void in the unit and has a negative impact on the unit's ability to accomplish its mission,' an Army spokesman said.

'Another soldier must assume the pregnant soldier's responsibilities.'

British Army policy is to send pregnant troops home, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said.

Makes sense to me. You can't do your duty as effectively, and in the era of birth control of many forms (IUDs, condoms, the pill, etc.), there's no reason to allow this to happen.

All the more reason to let gay people in --- NO pregnancy.

Monday, December 21, 2009 4:24:28 AM - Link

Click here to unsubscribe from SlickDeals.net Forums. Sent using Reblinks.