Thaindian News

Washington, Mar.17 (ANI): Over seven in ten Americans support allowing women in the military to engage in close combat, says Washington Post/ABC News poll.

Nearly, 73 percent of respondents support giving women combat roles, while 25 percent do not favor the move, The Washington Post reports.

Seventy-three percent of women and 72 percent of men favor extending formal combat roles to women, as do 80 percent of self-described Democrats, 62 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of independents.

The results of a telephone poll conducted on 1,005 adults came as Pentagon is preparing to review whether women should continue to be barred from combat units even though many of them oppose forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Women account for 14.5 percent of 1.4 million active-duty troops and 18 percent of the National Guard and reserve forces, according to the Pentagon. Around 10 percent of the US forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are women.

Since 1994, the Pentagon has restricted women from serving in any unit below the brigade level whose primary mission is direct ground combat. However, it allows women to serve in units that might face combat-related action.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Eileen Lainez, said: “While women are not assigned to units below brigade level whose primary mission is direct combat on the ground, this doesn’t mean they are not assigned to positions in combat zones that could place them in danger.”

A congressionally mandated commission recommended that the Pentagon should end the current ban in order “to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.” (ANI)