Pace's Comments Ignite Discussion at the GTB
Gays in the military...discuss.This post of course springs from the comments made by top U.S. Military official General Peter Pace in defense of the U.S.'s "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, General Pace asserted his "personal belief" that homosexuality is immoral and therefore persons found to be homosexual should be prosecuted and presumably discharged from the military, while closeted homosexuals are free to put their lives on the line for their country as much and as often as they like.
There are currently an estimated 65,000 active gay and lesbian service personnel fighting in the U.S. military and an estimated 10,000 troops have been discharged for their sexual orientation since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" took effect in 1994 (54 of those discharged were Arabic language specialists, just an FYI).
Labels: gays and lesbians, Iraq
posted by scooterlulu at 1:25 PM
6 Comments:
When don't ask don't tell was implemented it was under the assumption that gays and lesbians open in the armed forces could undermine the morale and efficacy of the troops/units/etc.
I think realizing that idea is bonk (look at Isreal, look at the UK) they've now turned to "lets not legitimize immorality"
Fine, lets not. But then perhaps army recruiters should stop enlisting felons and drug addicts. Last time i checked committing a crime is immoral.
See this article for info on recruitment of criminals:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/01/ING42LCIGK1.DTL
2:47 PM
Try the link again
2:53 PM
Sorry; I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of some German guy sawing his house in half.
It will be interesting to see what - if anything - comes of this recent hullabaloo. It seems to me that what Gen. Case has really done is explicitly state the bigotry at the heart of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Whereas in the past that bigotry was more or less implicit, masked behind concerns about morale etc.
I don't think a policy that excludes patriotic and willing Americans from serving in the Armed Forces makes a hell of a lot of sense, especially in wartime. But there's a lot of things about this country that don't make sense to me.
3:11 PM
As long as people are sharing their "personal opinions", I think acts of bigotry are immoral. And when you are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, I'm not sure you should get to hide behind the "it's just my personal opinion" excuse.
10:32 AM
Hey! You are right! I thought people in the U.S. Military didn't get to HAVE a personal opinion. About anything.
11:00 AM
I hear that they are allowed to have personal opinions, but that it's not OK to express them while they are in uniform and representing the military. As in, they can go to a peace rally, but not in their desert camo. So I guess it all comes down to what Petey was wearing at the time... (if I go missing, check Gitmo!)
2:14 PM
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