Awhile back I wrote
about Lt. Col. Martha McSally (Women
in Blue), the ranking woman fighter pilot in the U. S. Air
Force, who resented being required to wear the abaya, that
all-enveloping garment worn by Muslim women, when she went outside
Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, where she was stationed.
And she couldn’t drive a car outside the base, or even ride in
the front seat.
She
told CBS’s Leslie Stahl, "I can fly a single-seated aircraft in enemy territory
but I can’t drive a vehicle…I’m going to challenge it. "
And
she did. She sued Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Steve Aden, one of her
lawyers, said, "Even though she is commander for all those enlisted men and junior
officers around her, she is ordered to sit in the back seat, wear this Muslim
attire and in essence pretend she is a Muslim woman…"
And,
I said, Lt. Col. McSally won her lawsuit.
But
I was wrong.
When the
Air Force sent out an e-mail to commanders that wearing the abaya "is not
mandatory but is strongly encouraged," it was telling women in blue like Lt. Col.
McSally that while they didn’t have to wear the garment they better darn well
do it if they knew what was good for them.
So
now, it seems, that wasn’t good enough.
Rick
Maze, a staff reporter, writes in an early July Air Force Times that the
U.S. Senate has voted 93 to zip that female service members not be required "or
even encouraged" to wear the abaya off-base.
Republican
Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire, chief sponsor of this amendment to the 2003
defense authorization bill, said, "It is incredible to think that a woman in military
uniform has to cover that uniform up with an abaya."
Democratic
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan said the Pentagon’s change from requiring to "strongly
encouraging the wearing of the garment" is, at best, superficial change. A strong
encouragement is practically the same as an order in military terms."
The
House of Representatives had earlier approved similar legislation, Air Force
Times staffer Maze writes but it was not part of the annual defense budget.
Both pieces of legislation bar military commanders from requiring directly or
by suggestion that women wear the garment and prohibit any kind of action being
taken against women who decline to wear the abaya.
You
may have noticed that none of this mentions the fact that servicewomen in Saudi
Arabia are not allowed to drive vehicles off-base. Which I guess means even if
the legislation passes they still won’t be allowed to drive in that Middle Eastern
country.
I’m glad I don’t
live in Saudi Arabia.
Dody
does all the driving.
David Westheimer lives with his
wife of 57 years, Dody, in the same Los Angeles apartment they moved into from
Houston, Texas 40 years ago. Their son, Fred, is a Senior Vice-President at the
William Morris Agency and his younger brother, Eric, is a veterinarian. Succeeding
generations include five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. As a journalist,
David worked for Oveta Culp Hobby. At 85, David Westheimer continues to write,
and not just for Senior Women. The Great Wounded Bird, his recollections
of World War II, is winner of the Texas Review 1999 poetry prize, was published
by Texas Review Press and may be ordered from Amazon Books, where it has surged
to 821,374th on their sales list. It is also listed with Barnes & Noble and Borders
Books. David's latest novel, Delay En Route, is hovering at 1,693,283rd on Amazon's
list.
Poet and novelist,
David is a retired Air Force Officer. He can be reached for a repertoire of feigned
curmudgeonly remarks at: DWestheime@aol.com.
