Op-for brings us this story.

Protests from female soldiers have led to the Swedish military removing the penis of a heraldic lion depicted on the Nordic Battlegroup’s coat of arms.

The armed forces agreed to emasculate the lion after a group of women from the rapid reaction force lodged a complaint to the European Court of Justice, Göteborgs-Posten reports.

I am curious, yellow. (You have to be of a certain age to get that joke.) How can the sexually liberated Swedes be so hung up over how a lion is hung?

For all the laughing, it’s a serious matter because Europe, as part of the west, needs some military backbone. As Op-for notes:

The European Union has for the last year fielded standby battlegroups, made up of multinational contingents. What exactly they are standing by for is unclear, nevertheless there they are. The success of this sort of venture depends in large part on deterrent credibility, which will come from the nationalities involved, their readiness postures, their strategic mobility, and so on. NATO, as a sort of standby battlegroup writ large, was once an excellent example of such a force, and one that was built at great cost over many years. On the other hand, just about any UN force you can name is a counter-example.

One would think then that the EU’s Nordic Battlegroup would want to make it known that they aren’t to be trifled with, that they can deploy rapidly, sustain themselves, operate with sufficient combat power and with the backing of strong political will. One would think so.

Liberal Swedes call us cowboys. Better that than a pussy.