From another perspective

March is National Women’s History Month. We have come a long way. It was just 83 years ago, when we were given the right to vote.

Now females are serving the United States in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A recent video was televised, showing Shoshawna Johnson in captivity, alongside three men and several bodies, who were apparently Americans shot in the head. According to www.msnbc.com, this video gave America another look at females being in the military. I continued reading this article, and this quote caught my attention, “It is no longer a question of danger, but whether women have what it takes to fight,” retired Navy Capt. Lory Manning, director of the Women in the Military project at the Women’s Research and Education Institute said.

Do females have what it takes to fight? I have always believed that anyone can do anything if he or she puts his or her mind to it. I, for one, am glad to see females fighting alongside males. It shows that we are just as strong and are willing to stand up for ourselves and our futures; however, in other countries, females are treated with less respect.

In China, male babies are still preferred over females. A visitor to Beijing could still see female babies abandoned on street corners. According to the U.S. Department of State International Information Program, “Iraqi Women speak out about Life under Saddam’s Dictatorship,” one female recalls, “The heads of many women have been publicly cut off in the streets under the pretext of being liars, and while in fact they mostly belonged to families opposing the Iraqi regime. Women, especially dissident women, have been raped by members of Saddam Hussein’s gang…The wives of dissidents have been either killed or tortured in front of their husbands in order to obtain confessions from their husbands. . .Women have been kidnapped as they walk in the streets by members of the gangs of Uday and Qusay (Saddam’s sons) and then raped.”

Now, I may not like war, but I do feel we need to save the Iraqis, especially the women and children. Something had to be done. The idea of war is new to my generation. Eventually, I believe we will end this war and free Iraq, but there is no point in outlashing against countries that disagree with President Bush’s decision, especially France.

As the war continues, I count my blessings that I’m not in the middle of it, like the residents of Iraq and our neighbors fighting for America. I was browsing www.msnbc.com and found a picture of Iraqi children playing with debris from a bomb. This is just one of the reasons I will continue to pray and just trust in God. Hopefully one day, all of us will practice the true meaning of love thy neighbor.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 28 2003. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry