Women Worry Petraeus Scandal Will Hurt Their Role as Advisers to Military Leaders by Hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers.
The burgeoning sex scandal that has swept up retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and now Petraeus’ successor as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John Allen, is alarming the small cadre of women advisers who enjoy extraordinary access to top generals based on their expertise and scholarship.
Often coming from non-military backgrounds, these women’s work has informed U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a decade, offering fresh ideas on topics such as local governance, human rights, rule of law and counterinsurgency, with an ability to challenge the commanders from a position of independence.
Now they fear that leaders who have learned to rely on their advice might restrict women from their inner circles to avoid the appearance of impropriety...
Comments
LOL... And they should. I look at GEN Sinclair's Aid and see nothing more than a scorned woman... But she has ended him and thats what she wanted. Of course men have noticed... I have noticed a change around the HQ lately. Designed to help, sexual harrasment has become the tool of choice for a few woman to settle a score... However the outcome has affected ALL woman. No instead of being a part of the team, they will be kept at arms length. She saw an opportunity to advance her career riding on his coat tails and when she got caught, well then she lied. Good thing we don't have lynch mobs or an innocent man would be swinging. This was adultry nothing more, but she got caught and used the system not as it was intended, to help those who truly need it, but as a tool of revenge.
Ehh...I would like to agree with you about trying to not get sidelined or as you say it "get more inclusive", but I just cannot. I am in the same "pot" but at a much lower level. I think there will be a kind of backlash. It is not good for women who are actually trying to make a difference in the DOD. Of course, being attractive has its advantages, likeyou would get away with a speeding ticket on base (have to rush to brief Commander such and such on an issue that I am not able to speak about...bla bla bla). But really, there is a whole concept in the military that "if you are pretty, you dont have to work hard". I do not agree with that. The rules will unspokenly change for civilian female advisors. It sucks really. Khallas.
Read the story. Strikes me as some women more jealous of a young good looking woman having access to a general than the impact on women as advisors. I don't think they have the intention of raising Broadwellto the level of "advisor". Much ado about nothing or making a case for more inclusion because of perceived "sexism".
BTW, they should have listed Gen Sinclair's aide also. The one that had an affair with her general for three years and then coincidentally was threatened when she tried to break it off after discovering the general had another squeeze.