Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by nearly 40 percent last year, the Pentagon announced Thursday, saying the increase was at least partly due to a new program that encourages victims to come forward.

In January, Bush said that his position was: “No women in [land] combat.” The Army nevertheless continued to assign female soldiers to units designated all male, in violation of the congressional notification law. A highly publicized debate ensued, led by House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.).

Why are our generals trying to push women into ground combat in Iraq despite Pentagon regulations and congressional law against it? What is it about civilian control of the military that the generals don't understand?

The Case Against Women in Combat, summarizes reasons why a majority of presidential commisioners voted to retain or reinstate the exemption of women from close combat units that directly engage the enemy on land, sea, and in the air.

The lethal ambush of a convoy carrying female U.S. troops in Fallujah underscored the difficulties of keeping women away from the front lines in a war where such boundaries are far from clear-cut. The suicide car bomb and ensuing small-arms fire killed at least two Marines and four others were missing and presumed dead. At least one woman was killed, and 11 of the 13 wounded troops were female.

In 1997, a Pentagon commission on gender integration reported that coed housing and training contributed to high rates of misconduct in the military, and it recommended that other services copy the Marines and separate basic training for men and women. The report died under a firestorm of criticism from women in Congress and the military, who said the recommendations were sexist and could discourage women from joining the armed forces.

A suicide bomb attack on a U.S. convoy in Falluja marked the bloodiest day for U.S. female troops serving in Iraq. The attack marked the most female casualties for the U.S. military in one day in the Iraq war. Prior to Thursday's attack, 36 U.S. female soldiers and three civilian contractors had been killed in Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

The House Armed Services Committee watered down proposals which would stop women from serving in support teams which back up front-line combat troops. Advocates of the plan say the women get too close to the fighting, but the US army, facing problems with recruitment, was opposed to the move. Senior officers said they would have had to pull 22,000 female soldiers out of their jobs to replace them with men. They also warned of damage to morale, with the army's vice-chief of staff saying in a letter that the plan "would cause confusion in the ranks". Underlying the army's opposition are the problems it is having recruiting new troops.

The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.