All Intensive Purposes

The Washington Post's Ann Scott Tyson writes about women flying Army helicopters in combat over Iraq:

Buzzing over this northern Iraqi city in her Kiowa scout helicopter, a .50-caliber machine gun and rockets at the ready, Capt. Sarah Piro has proved so skillful in combat missions to support U.S. ground troops that she's earned the nickname "Saint."

In recent months of fighting in Tall Afar, Piro, 26, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., has quietly sleuthed out targets, laid down suppressive fire for GIs in battle and chased insurgents through the narrow alleys of this medieval city -- maneuvering all the while to avoid being shot out of the sky. In one incident, she limped back to base in a bullet-riddled helicopter, ran to another aircraft and returned to the fight 10 minutes later.

"They call her 'Saint Piro' -- she's just that good," said her co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Todd Buckhouse, a 19-year Army veteran who has worked with Piro on two tours with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq.

According to Tyson, about 9 percent of Army aviators are women. And apparently Congress isn't happy about it:

Under a law signed last month, the Defense Department must submit to Congress this year a report on the assignment of women, particularly in the Army, to ensure compliance with existing Pentagon policy, which was also codified by the law. The law requires that before opening any new positions to women, the Defense Department must tell Congress what justifies the change and observe a 30-day waiting period.

The legislation, while greatly watered down from earlier versions that would have rolled back opportunities for women, still limits the Pentagon's flexibility in adjusting to new wartime realities, critics say. It was passed over the objections of Pentagon leaders, including Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who said the change was not necessary. "We have opinions on the law, but it's now the law and we will abide by it," Harvey said in an interview last month.

Oddly enough, no one in the Administration seems to have suggested that Article II, Section 2, lets the President -- not Congress -- decide who is going to pilot Army helicopters in combat. This probably has something to do with Article I, Section 8, which empowers Congress "To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces." Why is the Army Secretary will to go along with Congress's power to make the law here, when Attorney General Gonzales insists that the President is free to let the NSA wiretap whomever it likes in the name of national security?