Gays In the Military

The Last Gasp Of Right Wing Homophobes: Outrageous And Deplorable!

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Last night, the House of Representatives adopted “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as part of a military spending bill, just hours after the Armed Services Committee in the Senate agreed to such an outcome by a vote of 16-12, including Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine. Final action by the Senate is expected within weeks.

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, having signed on, the end of this discriminatory policy is within reach, after the final military review due by December of this year!

At a moment when there should be rejoicing, however, Senator John McCain of Arizona is creating barriers after having promised to back the change IF the military apparatus went along with the change. He and others in the Republican party continue to create obstructionism on the issue. It is sad to see McCain give up all his principles and dignity in his struggle to keep his Senate seat in the upcoming Arizona primary in August against former Congressman J. D. Hayworth! 🙁

But in addition to McCain’s delay tactics, right wing homophobes are creating propaganda and myths to try to stall the change in military policy!

Among their tactics are to claim:
1. Homosexual assault will multiply, with soldiers being fondled and having oral sex done on them in their sleep!
2. HIV tainted blood will become a widespread crisis in the military!
3. Adolf Hitler had a gay military, which was more brutal and vicious than a straight army would have been!

These ideas and assertions are totally outrageous and deplorable! We are being told that straight soldiers will be so deeply asleep that they will be attacked without their knowledge! This assumes that gays are so aggressive that they will bother with straight soldiers who have no desire for sexual contact! Also, the facts are that all soldiers are regularly blood tested, and anyone trying to be a soldier who is HIV positive is not allowed to serve! Also, the idea that gays were part of a special group under Adolf Hitler belies the fact that gays were one of the three groups of people specifically labeled and marked for mass execution, along with Jews and gypsies, and were required to wear pink triangles to identify them!

It is time for these despicable assertions by people who claim to be for the “family” and to have “Christian values” to be totally repudiated as simply signs of hate and intolerance!

The Controversy Surrounding General Benjamin Mixon And Gays In The Military

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A controversy has erupted in the US military over Army Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, who has been advocating opposition to any changes in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward gays in the military. He has also stated that if this change in policy goes through, then gay and straight soldiers should not be housed in the same rooms on Marine bases, where soldiers share private rooms.

This has led to harsh criticism by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, with Mullen suggesting that maybe Mixon should resign!

Mixon is a three star general who commands the US Army in the Pacific. This is becoming a major controversy, and the likely result is his resignation, as it is clearly understood that military personnel keep their thoughts to themselves, and are not permitted openly to criticize the policies of the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States.

One thinks back to General Douglas MacArthur, dismissed under President Truman for opposing openly his Korean War policy, and General John Singlaub, who was removed in 1977 by President Carter for his criticism of Carter’s removal of a number of US forces in South Korea.

This controversy will certainly fuel anger from Republicans and conservatives who oppose any change in the gays policy adopted during the administration of Bill Clinton.

But the trend is definitely toward changes in the policy, despite criticism, as both the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are moving toward adoption, and Colin Powell and many other military and political leaders have spoken up in favor of the end of discrimination, as almost all European countries, Canada, Australia, and Israel have had no problems in accepting gays in the military on a nondiscriminatory basis over many years. It is time for change!

Barack Obama On A Roll ! Progress In Many Areas This Week! :)

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Barack Obama has been President for just over 14 months, and there has been much discontent that he has been unable to resolve all of the many problems in domestic and foreign affairs that this nation faces.

Many Americans seem to think that within little more than a year, why can’t every issue that George W. Bush either created or left unsettled for eight years be solved by the Obama Administration? This is, of course, unreasonable, as no President or administration has had the burdens that Obama has had, other than possibly Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and even they could not resolve the crises they faced within one year and two months!

But, also consider that the long battle over Health Care reform distracted the President from other crucial issues. Now that this has been completed, even with the future court battles and political campaign of 2010 that will be centered around this most controversial issue, Obama can be seen as focusing his attention on many other key issues.

For instance, the Student Loan and Pell Grant issue has now been made a program no longer controlled by the banks to their advantage, with the government taking full responsibility for this in the Health Care legislation, and this can be seen as a good move.

Also, the Obama Administration is now actively pursuing a program to help millions of homeowners in foreclosure by forcing banks and other financial institutions to ease demands on mortgagees by lowering principal payments and creating a moratorium on payments for those who are unemployed. This is essential, as the banks caused much of the problem by giving out mortgages that they often knew could not be repaid.

Additionally, it has just been announced that the Russians and the United States have agreed to major reductions in nuclear weapons, an important arms control victory for those who wish to lessen the danger of nuclear weapons. This agreement replaces one signed under the first Bush Administration in 1991, and is to be applauded!

Also, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is soon to announce real progress in the changing of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward gays in the military, a step long overdue!

Anyone who thinks Barack Obama is “sitting on his hands” is now able to realize that progress is being made, but as has been said before, “Rome was not built in a day”!

General David Petraeus And Gays In The Military

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General David Petraeus appeared on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Global Public Square today, and made major news.

The head of the US Central Command, and past leading General in the Iraq War, said that he had served with gay and lesbian soldiers in his 36 years in the military and with CIA personnel, and that after ten seconds of absorbing that fact, that then the issue was simply can we all work together on the military mission to accomplish the goals at hand.

And Petraeus said the answer was “Yes”, so therefore he has no problem with exploring the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”!

So Petraeus joins Admiral Mike Mullen, head of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State Robert Gates, in endorsing the end of the discriminatory policy.

It is time for President Obama to assert his leadership, and take the kind of action by executive order, as Commander in Chief, that President Harry Truman took courageously in 1948, when he ordered racial integration of the military, no matter how much opposition there was in the South and in the military itself!

Realize also that 25 countries already allow gays in the military, including Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and Israel, which Petraeus describes as “pretty good” military! So it is time for change!

General David Petraeus: Interesting Views In Midst Of Security Debate

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General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, formerly in charge of the war in Iraq, was on Meet The Press this morning, and what he had to say was very telling.

He was asked his view of whether the abandonment of the Army Manual tactics on questioning prisoners of war was the proper thing to do during the Bush Administration. Translated, this means whether he believed the use of torture and the tactics used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were useful and productive, and he said a clear No to that. Instead, such methods led to us being bitten on the behind, as he expressed it.

Petraeus was also asked if keeping prisoners of the war on terror at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba was a good policy in the long run. He made clear that while we have to work on this in a judicious way, that ultimately it would be better to close that prison at some point.

He was also asked about his view on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and while refusing to make a final statement, he said he supported the stand and activities of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, to investigate the validity of eventual abandonment of the ban on gays in the military.

These views are very significant, as they are generally supportive of the Obama Administration, while Petraeus stands clear of direct political involvement.

It is also revealing that just as Petraeus makes his statements disparaging the policy of torture, that the Justice Department is recommending no prosecution of the lawyers in the Bush Administration who wrote legal defenses of just that policy, which is still endorsed by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The decision not to prosecute John Yoo and the other “torture memo” attorneys is becoming a highly controversial issue, as many wonder why Eric Holder has decided not to pursue them, since the Obama Administration has totally repudiated those tactics.

Overall, General Petraeus’s statements contradict the political stands of the Republican party, despite the fact that most observers perceive him as basically a Republican in his views, although he is not actively partisan in any fashion and never has been.

Again, the Republicans seem to have more and more people often associated with them, but outside the Congress and the party leadership today, as against their strategy, tactics and actual stated beliefs!

Movement Forward On Gays In The Military!

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The testimony of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff head Mike Mullen before the Senate Armed Services Committee, endorsing moves toward the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, are a wonderful first step toward eventual end of the policy that forces gay service members out of the military, despite their ability to make a major contribution to our national defense.

Also, the statement of former Joint Chiefs of Staff and former General Colin Powell that he now backs what he opposed in 1993 during the Clinton Administration is an important moment in the fight against discrimination in our armed services.

It is clear that many service members did not like integration of African Americans in the military when President Truman ordered it in 1948, and also many do not like that women have served alongside men in recent years. But this is not a question of voting or personal feelings. It is an issue of basic fairness and human rights.

If some service member has a problem with gays, they will simply have to adapt and adjust, or leave the military early. The military services cannot allow discrimination or personal feelings to intervene, when it has been demonstrated that many NATO nations and Israel have long had gay members, and have adjusted and adapted well to it.

As former Senator and presidential nominee Barry Goldwater once said, who cares if someone is gay, as long as he can shoot straight on the battlefield? Good quote, and the successor to Senator Goldwater, Senator John McCain, should rethink his position and stop being critical, and support what so many people high in the military have now accepted: It is time for gays to be able to serve openly in the military alongside their brethren, as much as African Americans and other minorities and women!