Soledad O'Brien schooled a guest who argued against women in combat during her Friday CNN show.
Earlier this week, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced his landmark decision to lift the ban on women in combat. He said, "Today Gen. Dempsey and I are pleased to announce that we are eliminating the ground combat exclusion rule for women and moving forward with a plan to eliminate all gender-based barriers to service."
Professor Kingsley Browne appeared on O'Briens show to argue against women in combat due to the difference in what he called the "physical capacity" between men and women.
O'Brien said, "I’m going to read a little bit from this colonel who said this: 'The army is not a sociological laboratory; to be effective it must be organized and trained according to the principles which will ensure success. Experiments are a danger ... to efficiency, discipline and morale and would result in ultimate defeat.' Is this essentially what you're saying?"
"I think that that’s true," Browne said. "I don’t think it’s true with respect to ultimate defeat of the United States in a war. I think what’s likely to occur though is the defeat of the United States in small battles, which means that people are going to die."
"That [quote] was from a guy in 1941. And that argument was about not allowing black people in the military," O'Brien said. "That was his exact argument of why blacks should not be allowed in the military, because it’s a 'danger to efficiency and discipline and morale and will result in ultimate defeat.'"
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