Why We Need Women in War Zones

[daftandbarmy]

Why We Need Women in War Zones

THOUSANDS of men blocked the road, surrounding the S.U.V. of the chief justice of Pakistan, a national hero for standing up to military rule. As a correspondent for The Chicago Tribune, I knew I couldn’t just watch from behind a car window. I had to get out there.

So, wearing a black headscarf and a loose, long-sleeved red tunic over jeans, I waded through the crowd and started taking notes: on the men throwing rose petals, on the men shouting that they would die for the chief justice, on the men sacrificing a goat.

And then, almost predictably, someone grabbed my buttocks. I spun around and shouted, but then it happened again, and again, until finally I caught one offender’s hand and punched him in the face. The men kept grabbing. I kept punching. At a certain point — maybe because I was creating a scene — I was invited into the chief justice’s vehicle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/opinion/20barker.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

 

[FutureQYR]

I can't help but feel like being in the right doesn't always replace being smart.

For example, leaving my house to go to work, I know there are down right terrible drivers on the road. So, after approaching the 4 way stop I take the time to look around, I don't willfully throw myself into the middle of a situation were I know I may be hurt - or worse yet killed, just because I know other people shouldn't do the things they do. Im not down playing the contributions made by women in the media, I just feel not being at fault doesn't replace being responsible.

Nor do I understand how sending a women compared to a man, or vice versa, changes the facts of an incident such as those the author listed in the ladder half of the article.

Am I way off base?