John_Browning wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
John_Browning wrote:
It will give "guarding the rear" a whole new meaning.
Do they get separate shower facilities?
When out on patrol, does their lieutenant get to always put them on point and flank positions?
Can a captain put all the gays in the first Humvee traveling in a convoy down a road in the Anbar province, Afghanistan?
during ww2/korea, they drafted gays, but they had separate units all to themselves. the powers-that-be back then wisely decided that overall manpower trumped all other concerns. my late father told me stories about how it all worked out.
Just because it all worked out doesn't mean they can't be put to better use checking for snipers, landmines, and bombs.
I usually wouldn't get involved in this sort of debate, but I think this warrants a response. I think your disrespect is completely reprehensible, especially when talking about men and women in uniform.
First of all, you
do realize there are
already gays serving in the US military now, don't you? "Don't ask, don't tell" doesn't keep them from serving, it just keeps them from serving
openly-- which, by the way, completely conflicts with the old military honor code of not lying, cheating or stealing, or tolerating anyone who does. What the policy does is
force gay soldiers to lie in order to serve their country. That's not fair, and anyone who's willing to defend our liberties and national security at great personal risk (despite whatever their orientation might be) deserves much better than that. You may think what you've said is a joke, but it's extremely offensive and insulting to the gay men and women who serve in the military willingly, many of whom have served commendably for years, and who just want to be able to be open and honest about who they really are. We owe them that much, we really do.
Secondly, the policy itself is incredibly counterproductive so long as we still have boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Pulling perfectly capable soldiers and translators out of combat just because they're exposed as gay does nothing but weaken our fighting force. In addition, forcing servicemen and women to be dishonest with each other under penalty of discharge does nothing but hurt morale and unit cohesion. DADT is a flawed, puritanical policy, and in the long run, it imperils our soldiers.