"We literally could not have fought this war without women" - pseudo-feminism in support of war

i'm reading an article in the New York Times about women serving in the troops in Iraq. "Women at arms: living and fighting alongside men, and fitting in." The content of the article does not surprise me. A lot of ink is spilled over the question of sex. Do soliders have sex? Are they allowed to? How about pregnancy? Heterosexist shit like that. As females are shipped to Iraq, "special" problems arise. And then: "Women in today’s military say they do not feel the same pressure to prove themselves. They adapt and expect others to adapt. They preserve their femininity without making much of it." Women are sooooo adaptable! They preserve their femininity without making much of it! It's like WOW! These good, good women serving their Country alongside their good, good comerades without loosing what we all consider being of a supreme imprtance: femininity. These good patriots are so intent on the Mission that women and men can actually sleep on the same truck floor! Oh the novelty! And a gunner woman, too!

But: "Women are barred from joining combat branches like the infantry, armor, Special Forces and most field artillery units and from doing support jobs while living with those smaller units. Women can lead some male troops into combat as officers, but they cannot serve with them in battle."

According to the article, women have had "a transformative effect" on the military camps? How? Have Americans stopped killing civilians now, or what? Have they stopped fighting and started to do needlework instead, or what? Have the womenfolk brought some good old empathy to these troops? Well, heh, the transformative effect is....separate showers and trailers, basically.
How does the article end? Well, with stories about peeing, of course.

A woman is characterized by a) being fucked by a man b) becoming pregnant c) needing "privacy" d) wanting to preserve her femininity e) having special needs because of peeing.
Besides that, any woman can do anything she WANTS! In a Great liberal country like the US!

Irony aside, there are tons of things about this article that make me angry, but the major thing is that women "fitting in", "fighting alongside the men" makes war seem like gym class or a group of people playing video games or driving a lorry. The army is treated like "any other corporation". There was an earlier article about women in the army called "G.I Jane breaks the combat barrier". "Women have repeatedly proven their mettle in battle." What kind of description of war is that? Women proving YES WE CAN KILL TOO! Fine, then. Good for you. Great stuff to be proud of. The integration of women in the army is advocated to be yet another thing that proves USA to be a country that values Freedom and Tolerance and Equality. (Some writers and journalists have made a simliar point; women in the army and the freedom of Iraqi women are basically precious argumentative tools in the game of winning over the public (of various countries). "The war in Iraq is all about freeing the Iraqi WOMEN from the bad, bad terrorist men."

“As horrible as this war has been, I fully believe it has given women so many opportunities in the military,” said Linsay Rousseau Burnett, who was one of the first women to serve as a communication specialist with a brigade combat team in Iraq. “Before, they didn’t have the option.”

Plus: in these article rape is treated much like a practical little thingy to be dealt with in a smart way. Rape: something that happens to happen when women are around men. "Rape kits are now common in the war zones." But a moment of reflection, please. Rape is a weapon in war. All around the globe. Women are targets. It's war logic. It's the sexist logic of war. That women in the army can be targets in this way, too, doesn't change shit. If concerned about rape in war.... "they [female soldiers] have proved indispensible in their ability to interact with and search Iraqi and Afghanistan women for weapons, a job men cannot do for cultural reasons." Smart move to bring the females, fellas!

amen, brothers and sisters, let's fight them terrorists together.

*contains minor streaks of irony.
*Obviously, the problem is not that women serve in the army. serve in the army if you like. the problem is that war is justified and smothered over in pseudo-feminist, liberal bullshit propaganda like this.