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Will the Pentagon pull Rush Limbaugh鈥檚 radio show from the armed forces radio network?聽

Broadcast to troops in bases throughout the world and aboard US Navy ships, the network鈥檚 self-described mission is to provide 鈥渁 touch of home鈥� for service members overseas.聽

Yet as the furor over Mr. Limbaugh鈥檚 description of a Georgetown University student as a 鈥渟lut鈥� reaches troops overseas, US military veterans as well as soldiers serving in Afghanistan are asking the Pentagon to drop Limbaugh鈥檚 radio program from its lineup.

An organization of some 100,000 US military veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, VoteVets.org, is also circulating a petition calling for the removal of Limbaugh鈥檚 show from the US military鈥檚 network, and signatures on it are growing everyday, says Maj. Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets.org.聽

There are currently more than 11,000 military veterans and family members who have signed the petition.

In denigrating the student, who testified on Capitol Hill in favor of health-care coverage of birth control,聽Limbaugh 鈥渋s commenting not on an individual, but on all women,鈥� says Major Soltz, who returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq in December.聽鈥淭he government shouldn鈥檛 be promoting the type of content that essentially disrespects all women in the military who use contraception.鈥澛�

Veterans say they do not have any objection to the Armed Forces Network, known as AFN, carrying conservative radio commentators 鈥� the network carries Bill O鈥橰eilly for example.聽

鈥淚 totally believe in people鈥檚 freedom of speech,鈥� explains veteran tech Sgt. Jennifer Norris, who served in the Maine Air National Guard from 1996 to 2008. 鈥淏ut when it comes to calling someone you don鈥檛 even know a slut, it feeds into the misogynistic attitude towards women 鈥� and it hurts our cause.鈥�

This is particularly the case as the US military grapples with rising rates of sexual assault in its ranks, Ms. Norris and others add. In some units, 鈥淎s a woman, you were either a slut, a bitch, or a dyke. Rush鈥檚 mentality feeds right into that, when we鈥檙e trying to work so hard to get rid of that.鈥�

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, on Wednesday said he would like to see AFN drop Limbaugh鈥檚 show, but that he would not seek legislation to do so. 鈥淚 would hope that the people that run [AFN] see just how offensive this is,鈥� Senator Levin told CNN.

The decision by AFN to air Limbaugh鈥檚 show was controversial when it was made back in 1993. At the time, a group of more than 70 lawmakers complained to then-Defense Secretary Les Aspin about the network鈥檚 failure to carry the show. Mr. Aspin in turn supported its broadcast, and the decision was made to air it.

Another call to drop Limbaugh鈥檚 program from AFN was made in 2004, after the conservative talk radio host compared the treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib to a 鈥淪kull & Bones鈥� initiation, referring to the Yale University secret society.

鈥淚鈥檓 talking about people having a good time,鈥� Limbaugh said in May of that year of US soldiers, who were later prosecuted for misconduct under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 鈥淭hese people 鈥� you ever of emotional release? You ever hear of needing to blow some steam off?鈥�

He added in a later show, 鈥淲e need some prison torture, you know, bubble gum cards.鈥澛�

For now, Pentagon officials say they have no plans to drop the show. 鈥淥ur goal is to provide a wide array of programming for service members overseas that would be available to them stateside,鈥� says Pentagon spokesman George Little. 鈥淎iring programming on the American Forces Network does not constitute endorsement of what is said or shown.鈥�

That said, Mr. Little adds, 鈥淲e always take seriously the feedback of our service members.鈥�

In Afghanistan, Limbaugh鈥檚 comments have been a frequent topic of conversation among some troops. While many troops, both male and female, find the comments disrespectful to the female soldiers with whom they serve, Limbaugh does not have much of a following overseas, says one American soldier in deployed to Afghanistan, who was not authorized to speak about Limbaugh.

鈥淣o one in the Army listens to [him] anyway,鈥� he adds. 鈥淎FN carries him for the retired white 65 to 90 crowd.鈥�