“The Global War on Terrorism is far-reaching and unrelenting,” wrote David S. C. Chu, Defense Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness‚Äö√Ѭ∂ “A national debate on changing” the Pentagon’s ban on openly gay service members would bring “divisiveness and turbulence across our country,” which “will compound the burden of the war.”
Yes, we can’t have a free and open debate on the issue of gays in the military, because then we’ll know that the terrorists have won. Loose lips sink ships, don’tcha know? How will our brave fighting men react if they have to wonder if the soldier in the foxhole with them is having impure and unnatural thoughts?
Whatever….
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is perhaps the single most misguided policy put into force by Bill Clinton. Instead of keeping his campaign promise to repeal the ban on gays in the military, he caved to political pressure and came up with a half-measure that in the end satisfied no one and changed nothing. When he looks back on his Presidency, Clinton should be able to honestly and openly admit that “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was, and remains, an abject failure. In the end, we’re the ones suffering for his lack of leadership and moral courage on this issue.
One has only to look at how many Arabic translators have been drummed out of the military to understand how this misguided policy impacts operational readiness. Our military’s ability to address the terrorist threat has been materialy and adversely impacted because of government’s desire to pander to, as well as the ignorant and fearful. And David Chu thinks that we shouldn’t be talking about it??
This is a shoddy attempt to stifle debate, and in fact the opposite is true ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ repeal of DADT would relieve, not worsen, the “burden of the war” on our military.
Since DADT went info effect, the Pentagon has dismissed more than 11,000 servicemembers, around 800 of whom had “some training in an occupation identified ‚Äö√Ѭ∂ as ‚Äö√Ñ√≤critical.’” At a time when the military faces a readiness crisis, the Pentagon can ill-afford to dismiss two service members a day as it is doing under the current policy. One study by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network found the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians were allowed to be open about their sexual orientation.
If an American is willing to serve their country and maintain military discipline while doing so, why shouldn’t they be able to? Why should fully trained and productive soldiers be drummed out of the military simply because an ignorant minority disapproves of their lifestyle and sexual preference? And why are we allowing our military to make personnel decisions that adversely impact their ability to protect us from the threats we face?
I’m not a supporters of gays and lesbians, but I recognize their right to live as they choose. Frankly, I could care less who a soldier sleeps with or what they do in their free time. If they perform ably and professionally while on duty, shouldn’t that be enough? Isn’t that what’s really important?
And isn’t David Chu really, truly an arrogant DUMB@$$…and the worst sort of Republican?
