Four items of interest you may have missed:
1. Which countries allow women to serve on the front lines?
With plans in the works for women to serve on the front lines in our military, here is a map of the countries allow women in front-line combat roles.
The maps shows that the countries where women may serve in military
combat roles are mostly European. It’s permitted in all Scandinavian
countries, which famously have the narrowest gender gaps
in the world. It’s also prevalent in the Anglosphere, where it’s
allowed in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with the United States and
the United Kingdom the last hold-outs.
Otherwise, the only other countries that allow women in combat are Israel, Eritrea and North Korea: an odd mix of nations that use conscription to maintain large militaries. In all three, cultural solidarity with the military and history of armed conflict may play the biggest roles in that particular form of gender equality. But I’m not sure what may have led South Africa and Pakistan to break from their regional norms and permit women to fly combat aircraft.
Here’s a list of the countries that allow women in front-line combat positions. In Europe: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Elsewhere: Australia, Canada and New Zealand in the Anglosphere; plus Eritrea, Israel, and North Korea.
And here are the countries that allow women in positions such as fighter pilots. Pakistan, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, at least until Panetta’s change takes effect.
Formally, American servicewomen who want to serve in combat may do so only in support roles, although a number of those women do end up seeing combat. Women may also hold serious but non-frontline jobs, such as flying fighter jets or staffing ballistic submarines. (read full article at Washington Post, click image to enlarge, hat tip Marcus Wilder)
2. The Algeria hostage crisis: the full story of the kidnapping in the desert behind the scenes at The Guardian UK (hat tip Marcus Wilder) A day-by-day account.
Some were shot. Others hid and hoped. Using survivors' testimonies,
photography and video - some filmed by the hostages themselves - we
piece together the narrative of the four-day In Amenas gas plant siege.
3. The Unspectacular, Unsophisticated Algerian Hostage Crisis, from StratFor
The recent jihadist attack on the Tigantourine natural gas facility
near In Amenas, Algeria, and the subsequent hostage situation there have
prompted some knee-jerk discussions among media punditry. From these
discussions came the belief that the incident was spectacular,
sophisticated and above all unprecedented. A closer examination shows
quite the opposite. (continue at StratFor, hat tip Marcus Wilder)
4. Our own R. J. Godlewski was interviewed by Paul A. Ibbetson on his radio show: The Conscience of Kansas, about his latest books and personal and societal self defense. You can listen at R. J.'s website here. R. J.'s interview starts around the half-way mark. Or you can go here and listen at The Conscience of Kansas webpage.
R. J. has two books at Amazon.com, Skills of the Assassin:: Understanding the Tactics of the Professional Killer and Mini-Manual of The Independent Counterterrorist Second Edition.
Add any items of interest you have in the comment section.
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