West Point Military Academy cadets must adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." In addition, the values of the U.S. Army are stated on the Army website as: "Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage." However, the official policy of the the Army and the entire military toward gay soldiers is "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." This basically means don't tell the truth about who you are.
Senator John McCain, though claiming respect and admiration for all soldiers (including the gay ones), calls the policy "effective." He seems to be saying it is OK to be a gay soldier, unless you're an honest gay soldier.
As a result of this "effective" policy 428 service members were discharged in 2009 at a cost of $290 million. Even with the announcement that third party reports will no longer be used to dismiss soldiers (I guess "don't tell" never meant other people couldn't rat you out), this policy continues on and more service members will be dismissed.
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticized DADT yesterday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday. He said, "I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."
Adm. Mullen was joined at the Senate hearing by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also supported the change in policy, but asked for a year to study the impact of changing the policy. Hmmmm... a year to study how to change the policy... Why does the administration need to study this for about a year and what will it entail? Are they thinking about getting rid of communal showers or providing separate accommodations for gay soldiers? Are they going to develop sensitivity training on how to treat soldiers making out in a foxhole? Are they trying to delay things until after mid-term elections? BINGO!
There is nothing to study here. You simply change the policy. You announce soldiers will no longer be dismissed from military service for being homosexual. The rules of sexual conduct should be the same for homosexual soldiers as they are for heterosexual soldiers. The end. Life goes on.
Republicans criticized Gates for stating the year-long review would determine how to repeal the ban, not whether it should be repealed. That is a step forward, I guess (baby steps). However, repealing the ban does take an act of Congress, which is not currently in the works.
Many other countries around the world have open, gay soldiers and their military survives. These are tough soldiers. They can handle being around a few gays. The argument that this is not the time to change the policy because we're fighting two wars is nonsense. With approximately 66,000 gays and lesbians currently in the military (according to a study by the Williams Institute), there is no better time to support all our soldiers by letting them know none of them has to lie anymore.
