General Wants Gay Ban Lifted

[retiredman]

I'd like an article showing how many senior leaders are FOR the policy. I bet those against openly (mentally unstable) homos-in-uniform outnumber those FOR, by a margin of 10:1.

well...with an enlightened attitude like that, I have no doubt you would feel that way. I think that you would find that military commanders, by and large, care a lot more about how well a person does his job when he's on duty than who he sleeps with off duty.

[actsnoblemartin]

Its a disgrace they banned you!!

I honestly don't have a problem with gays serving in the military but this doesn't make sense...a policy is still a policy. How can someone in the navy be openly gay?

(I know the majority of sailors are gay but didn't know they could do it openly. )

[Pale Rider]

Its a disgrace they banned you!!

So I guess you're making clear your opinion of the military.

[mrg666]

I honestly don't have a problem with gays serving in the military but this doesn't make sense...a policy is still a policy. How can someone in the navy be openly gay?

(I know the majority of sailors are gay but didn't know they could do it openly. )

tell that to the village people

[actsnoblemartin]

I think letting gays in is a bad idea. Gays like men, so if you have all men, i just think its a bad idea.

its as bad as putting men and women serving in close quarters.

I just think its a bad idea.

[JackDaniels]

I think letting gays in is a bad idea. Gays like men, so if you have all men, i just think its a bad idea.

its as bad as putting men and women serving in close quarters.

I just think its a bad idea.

You really do not understand the policy. Gays under the policy for the last 15 years are NOT banned from the military.

[actsnoblemartin]

I understand that, but i dont think its good for gays to serve at all. Based on their immoral behavior.

I wouldnt want a straight man, if he beats his wife, is a drunk, or you could add other reasons

you need moral people

You really do not understand the policy. Gays under the policy for the last 15 years are NOT banned from the military.

[Pale Rider]

I think letting gays in is a bad idea. Gays like men, so if you have all men, i just think its a bad idea.

its as bad as putting men and women serving in close quarters.

I just think its a bad idea.

That is logistical problem number 1. There is no way straight men should be forced into the uncomfortable circumstance of having to be naked in front of someone that is of the same sex and afflicted with a mental illness that makes them sexually attracted to them. It would never work, and the powers to be know it. There is simply not one single scenario where a homo could be incorporated into a basic training situation without problems.

[Pale Rider]

In conclusion... fags in the military, bad idea. Just can't be done.

[DragonStryk72]

I honestly don't have a problem with gays serving in the military but this doesn't make sense...a policy is still a policy. How can someone in the navy be openly gay?

(I know the majority of sailors are gay but didn't know they could do it openly. )

lol, alright, as a straight ex-sailor, that was funny.

Seriously though, it's time the ban was lifted. the whole ban is under the assumption that somehow it would catch like the flu, or that only gays would do inappropriate stuff (My boat was nicknamed 'The Love Boat' for the number of women on my ship that someone had conception dates that occured while we were underway).

[Gunny]

General Wants Gay Ban Lifted

Military.com | January 03, 2007

In an op-ed published in Tuesday's New York Times, John M. Shalikashvili, retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Congress should give "serious reconsideration" to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. Shalikashvili, who supported the ban on open service in 1993, writes that "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," and goes on to say that "Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."

"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is out of step with both the American public and those within our armed forces," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "The counsel of military leaders increasingly supports repeal of the law. Congress must, as General Shalikashvili urges, consider the overwhelming evidence of the past fourteen years. If they do, the clear answer is that we must lift the ban."

Shalikashvili, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 1993 to 1997, joins other senior retired military officers who have called for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In May 2006, Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, USA (Ret.), the first female three-star officer in Army history, called the law "a hollow policy that serves no useful purpose." Lieutenant General Daniel W. Christman, former superintendent of West Point, recently told The New York Times that "It is clear that national attitudes toward this issue have evolved considerably in the last decade. This has been led by a new generation of service members who take a more relaxed and tolerant view toward homosexuality." Retired Admiral John Hutson, who currently serves as Dean of Franklin Pierce Law School, also recently wrote that "It would be a great tragedy if we didn't take advantage of (the) chance to correct a flawed policy."

In 2003, two retired generals and an admiral 'came out' in the New York Times, and in November 2006 fourteen senior retired military officers urged the First Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ban. They wrote that the law "undermines the military's ability to fulfill its primary mission of providing national security by discouraging the enlistment of gay persons qualified to serve their country and by expelling from the military those who have served with honor."

In today's op-ed, General Shalikashvili writes that "Last year I held a number of meetings with gay soldiers and marines, including some with combat experience in Iraq, and an openly gay senior sailor who was serving effectively as a member of a nuclear submarine crew. These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers."

A December 18th Zogby poll also found that 73% of military personnel polled were comfortable with lesbians and gays.

"General Shalikashvili's statement is the first by a Joint Chiefs Chairman to call for repeal, and as such is enormously significant," said Osburn. "The Pentagon has dismissed more than 11,000 men and women under this law. It is clear that enforcement of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is arbitrary. We continue to lose critical personnel who happen to be gay. As General Shalikashvili points out, continuing to keep this law on the books is detrimental to our national security."

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/...RC=airforce.nl

The General obviously forgot where he came from, and doesn't know what he's talking about.

[retiredman]

yeah...the general and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is an idiot and the gunny sargeant is freakin' Einstein.

that makes shitloads of sense.

[OCA]

yeah...the general and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is an idiot and the gunny sargeant is freakin' Einstein.

that makes shitloads of sense.

Maybe he sucked his way to the top? Could be why he wants the ban lifted.

[retiredman]

Maybe he sucked his way to the top? Could be why he wants the ban lifted.

or....trying to be serious.... or, maybe he knows what he is talking about and knows that gay men and women are perfectly capable of serving their country with honor... and now, especially now, when we are issuing stop gap orders and holding soldiers after the end of their enlistments and when we are keeping soldiers from retiring on time and when we are sending national guard units made up of weekend warrior citizen soldiers back into the Iraqi meatgrinder for the third time and when we are having to lower our recruiting standards to make our quotas....maybe we should think about letting those capable and qualified soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines who are also gay continue to serve and "get over" our irrational homophobia.

Just a thought.

[darin]

or....trying to be serious.... or, maybe he knows what he is talking about and knows that gay men and women are perfectly capable of serving their country with honor... and now, especially now, when we are issuing stop gap orders and holding soldiers after the end of their enlistments and when we are keeping soldiers from retiring on time and when we are sending national guard units made up of weekend warrior citizen soldiers back into the Iraqi meatgrinder for the third time and when we are having to lower our recruiting standards to make our quotas....maybe we should think about letting those capable and qualified soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines who are also gay continue to serve and "get over" our irrational homophobia.

Just a thought.

It's a fallacy to think that 1%? less? of the population would translate into enough qualified recruits to make a difference in our manning strength.