Army General Backs Off: No Court Martial For Pregnancy

ABC News:

An Army general in Iraq backed away from his threat today to court martial female soldiers who get pregnant.

"I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court martial for a violation ... none," Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III wrote to ABC News in an exclusive statement. " I fully intend to handle these cases through lesser disciplinary action."

Read the whole story: ABC News

Comments

[walt1944]

08:03 AM on 12/23/2009

Instead of conducting a "witch hunt" for pregnant soldiers, how about these "great military minds" do something useful; like winning the wars in Iraq (remember Iraq!) and Afghanistan!!!!

[Faxus]

07:13 AM on 12/23/2009

Our military forces has been re-designed at great expense to incorporate women into the ranks because women demanded it but this just proves the naysayers were right. If this is going to be the rule, that women can take themselves off the battlefield by getting pregnant, then they don't belong in the military. They don't have what it takes.

[rtb61]

07:09 AM on 12/23/2009

Does that mean that he was also attempting to punish the unborn child for gaining illegal entry to a military facility and seeking to subvert the use of military rations for it's own purposes. As for the female soldier malingering, does the fool have any idea where new recruits come from or, the health risks of getting pregnant or, of the responsibility and effort of bringing up a potential future recruit.
So what happens if the male refuses to confess, is the child aborted in order to gain the genetic evidence require to prove the crime. Also can the soldiers avoid punishment by inducing the woman into getting an abortion and as such is the General promoting abortions by establishing penalties for failing to do so (that is the reality of his stance).

[MildenHall]

06:37 AM on 12/23/2009

Man some of you all are just flat dumb. On par bordering on superceding W. Why on Earth would or should a career officer in the military resign over something as minor as this. If you hadn't noticed, we're at war. Generals YEARS to make in the US military. This isn't some Third World dictatorship where just showing up they make you a general or the Minnesota militia where an "retired" AF clown master sergeant with a big gun and wacko ideas can show up on camera calling himself a General and someone in the media address him as such. Geez, they way some of you overract to everything military you would think this was My Lai. In this climate, US Grant would have fired before he took Natchez and Vicksburg; Patton would have rolled through France, Black Jack Pershing would have never been appointed General of the Armies. His order got slapped down by the higher ups in the food chain...that's all that happened here. Surprise surprise. The Green Machine keeps rollin'.

Next...

[Ascoli]

06:13 AM on 12/23/2009

These 'Generals' are a bunch of uptight, rigid, ignorant big boys who love their guns and war.
They're sickening.

[Mr.Fitz]

04:06 AM on 12/23/2009

Why am I not surprised. I've been in the Military on active duty. I'm a veteran. I've gotten "Article 15"--what this general is calling "lesser disciplinary action". Regarding punishment, the Military is all politics. That's the only reason why this general is backing down--public pressure.

But the whole thing is silly in the first place--why would you punish a woman for getting pregnant? I assume it's meant to prevent other female soldiers from doing the same; because it prevents one from doing her duty as a soldier, and because it costs the Army money. But it's not like they are going to sterilize women who enlist.

[ricmarc]

02:37 AM on 12/23/2009

if gays in the military can't have sex then neither should the straight ones. this should go double when they are deployed. they are just trying to get out of their service if they get pregnant.

[rosiebond007]

12:07 AM on 12/23/2009

HOW COME THESE "SMART" PEOPLE SAY THIS STUFF WITHOUT THINKING IT THROUGH ??

NOW HE LOOKS REALLY STUPID TAKING IT ALL BACK.

WHO ARE THESE BRAINLESS PEOPLE -?

[DeSwiss]

12:54 AM on 12/23/2009

These are the people who are in command and control of the most lethal weapons ever known to mankind.

Scary ain't it????

[jeanrenoir]

10:30 PM on 12/22/2009

I've always been for equal rights for women in every sphere. I even think that women should be allowed to participate in infantry combat if they are strong enough to kill people up close and personal. That said, obviously women can't have it both ways. They can't say they are just as capable as men, and then get pregnant and drop out! They've got to commit to NOT GETTING PREGNANT and make sure they don't. If they blow this, they've broken a contract. Simple as that, and you've got to pay the price when you break a contract.

[beekeeper]

10:48 PM on 12/22/2009

Yeah right.... and the males will abstain from sex too in all fairness? Get a life

[CognitoErgoSum]

11:07 PM on 12/22/2009

The issue IS fairness between the sexes! These pregnancies, without exception, involved men who may or may not have to face the consequences that women cannot avoid. That was the objection of the senators and NOW; unequal consequences. These women would face federal prosecution while the men who committed the same act get off scott free.

That said, I'm a female military retiree who can understand the General's point in making the policy. When you make a decision that hinders your ability to perform the mission, everyone else has to work harder.

The same can be said for male soldiers who marry high-maintenance wives who can't/don't drive and who are generally helpless without their men to take care of them. When I graduated from PLDC at the III Corps NCO Academy at Fort Hood, the Commandant's solution for those situations was, "Divorce in Gatesville-$69." When you have to drive your wife on errands, there is no one there to perform your duties and the mission suffers.

[Mark Twaine]

10:17 PM on 12/22/2009

I haven't read all the comments, but from those I did read, I am surprised the religious right hasn't weighed in on this subject.

[MakeAWish]

10:05 PM on 12/22/2009

Want to prevent unwanted pregnancies? Then stop the cruel and unusual punishment of heinous years of redeployment and the unnatural separations from family and loved ones? Separating our young soldiers, male and female from having any semblance of developing a normal life is pathological and unnatural.

[spytheweb]

09:53 PM on 12/22/2009

The way to fix this is to end the war.

[springsm]

12:55 AM on 12/23/2009

The first smart comment so far. Right on.

[Camm s]

08:02 AM on 12/23/2009

DITTO

[MakeAWish]

09:45 PM on 12/22/2009

What's good for the geese is good for the ganders. A female can't get pregnant without a male. There are contraception for the female and condoms for the male. If someone doesn't understand basic sex education 101, then don't have sex.

This gendered biased policy is archaic to say the least.

[MalloMel]

10:30 PM on 12/22/2009

How is it gender biased? Did you read the article?

[3neuticals]

08:53 PM on 12/22/2009

Hey. A general isn't doing his job if he isn't making himself a target of the enemy within.

[TXfemmom]

08:26 PM on 12/22/2009

Wow, I bet this guy really got taken to the woodshed.