Iraq Commander – Pregnancy Could Mean Jail

According to new rules laid out by Major General Tony Cucolo, a U.S. Military commander in Iraq, women who become pregnant during their tours, and Soldiers who get them pregnant could face serious consequences, including jail time. In a bold move, the commander has put court martial and criminal charges on the table for any troops who might conceive a child without the Military’s permission. This comes as no surprise to many, who understand that Soldiers and their bodies are Military property, and are often treated like any other piece of Military equipment. Used and abused until it can’t be used anymore, then replaced unceremoniously.

It is not against Military rules for single Soldiers to have sexual contact with each other, but the natural results of such contact could now get you locked up by the Military you serve. The real problem with this story is Cucolo’s remark here, “I consider the male soldier as responsible for taking a soldier out of the fight just as responsible as the female soldier who must redeploy”. If you didn’t know any better, you could almost hear how he is relating Soldiers who get their female counterparts pregnant, to an enemy combatant taking out one of our Soldiers.

This is the kind of treatment our Soldiers get when serving unwittingly for the real enemy. The enemy within. If you had our Basic Training knowledge you would know who this enemy is, and why a Military commander would ever get away with making such remarks. Cucolo claims he will only use lesser punishments, but it’s just one step closer to the harshest punishments for the most menial things.

Source: Yahoo
Date: 22DEC09

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. military commander in northern Iraq defended on Tuesday a new policy imposing strict penalties, including possible jail time, for troops who become pregnant or get other soldiers pregnant.

“In this 22,000-soldier task force, I need every soldier I’ve got, especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission,” Major General Tony Cucolo, who commands U.S. soldiers in northern Iraq, said in a statement.

Cucolo’s new directive, issued last month when he took command, lays out a long list of activities that could lead to court martial or criminal charges, from gambling to stealing historical artifacts, and applies only to his command.

The clause about pregnancy has garnered the most attention, affecting seven soldiers under Cucolo’s command, according to military spokesman Major Jeff Allen. The command includes 1,682 female soldiers, Allen said.

There are some 115,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, a number set to drop to about 50,000 by the end of August next year as the U.S. military ends combat operations. Under a deal with Iraq, a full withdrawal of U.S. troops is due by the end of 2011.

U.S. Central Command rules do not prohibit “sexual contact between consenting, single servicemembers.”

“I wanted to encourage my soldiers to think before they acted, and understand their behavior and actions have consequences — all of their behavior.

“I consider the male soldier as responsible for taking a soldier out of the fight just as responsible as the female soldier who must redeploy,” Cucolo said.

Allen said Cucolo “takes each case on its own merits, considering each set of circumstances before deciding on punishment.”

He said such punishment could, in the most serious case, include jail time. But soldiers violating the rule so far have received letters of reprimand.

In a statement to ABC News, Cucolo said he would not resort to using the court martial for such cases.

“I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court martial for a violation … I fully intend to handle these cases through lesser disciplinary action,” he wrote, according to the ABC report.