Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will announce Thursday that gender will no longer be a barrier to female members of the military who want to serve in combat units. And former Florida congressman Allen West is not impressed.
In a message he wrote Wednesday afternoon on Twitter, West called the idea a “misconceived lib[eral] notion of fairness and equality.
Women in combat billets? Another misconceived lib vision of fairness and equality.
— Allen West (@AllenWest) January 24, 2013
Panetta is expected to leave his job in February. His order will reportedly call for branches of the armed services to determine if opening the military’s most dangerous jobs to women is feasible, and then to report back to the Pentagon by mid-May.
Any new military personnel standards that result will likely be implemented in three years.
West’s tweet attracted some dissenters. Jessica Colon, a photographer from Somerville, Mass., replied, “[H]oney – i dont need a penis to pull a trigger.”
@allenwest honey – i dont need a penis to pull a trigger. get over yourself.
— Jessica (@j3551c4) January 24, 2013
In a tweet she sent minutes later, Colon chided women who backed West’s criticism of the new Pentagon policy.
“Dear ladies – if you don’t think you are committed enough to go to war, or that your period will get in the way, don’t join the military,” she wrote.