Posted on 07/13/2009 12:04:33 PM PDT by Red Steel
NEW YORK (AP) When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the worlds proudest, toughest militaries and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagons dont ask, dont tell policy.
In the United States, more than 12,000 service members have been dismissed since 1994 because it became known they were gay. Current targets for discharge include a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran, Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi.
In Britain, on the other hand, uniformed gay and lesbian service members marched in the annual Pride London parade July 4. Gay Australian soldiers and sailors had their own float in Sydneys Gay Mardi Gras parade. In Israel, the army magazine earlier this year featured two male soldiers on the cover, hugging one another.
Americas dont ask, dont tell policy which prohibits gays from serving openly is the target of intensifying opposition, and President Barack Obama says he favors lifting the ban. But he wants to win over skeptics in Congress and the Pentagon, and a fierce debate lies ahead that will inevitably touch on the experiences of allied nations that have no bans.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., the first war veteran elected to Congress, has just launched a campaign for a bill to repeal dont ask. He observed British troops in operating smoothly with a serve-openly policy and bristles at the contention that American forces would suffer morale and recruiting problems if they followed suit.
I take it as a personal affront to our warriors, he said. To say that other countries soldiers are professional enough to handle this and American soldiers arent is really a slap in the face.
(Excerpt) Read more at gazette.com ...
You're missing the point..;) The "gays" want into the military, let them "own it". The first gay marines killed by an IED, the first ones to run into a machine gun nest, they have my support. No mix and match, let's see how the bulldykes and polesmokers do...., give them their own leadership.
I’m really quite sick and tired of all the bleeding heart pansy arses coming out in the media and slobbering all over each other to try and convince the rest of the country that somehow allowing homos to serve openly in the military is somehow going to make the US military a far more superior fighting force than it already is — Pleeeezzzzeeee!
First of all, that is total F’n bulldung!!! In spite of what the whining libs are saying, all five branches are meeting their recruiting goals — Even with Iraq and Afghanistan in full swing, so, saying that we are not meeting recruiting goals — That dog simply just don’t hunt. Next!
Second of all, and it has already been touched on — Blood. I’m sorry, shipmate or not, if I knew you were a homo and required first aid and I didn’t have bio-hazard suit nearby...I’m probably not going to touch you...facts are facts. The homos and media are still barking up the wrong tree. Next!
When we reinstate the draft...draft everyone them, but until then, it is still an all volunteer force with standards — Third, being in the military is not a F’n right, it is a privilege — Just like we don’t let disgusting fat bodies serve, nor do we let drug addicts serve either...I would really appreciate it if the F’n libs in this country would quit trying to fix the military until its broke...We, are doing just fine without their help, Thank you very much! Next!
“Was never in it. Never claimed I was. But that doesnt mean that a civilian is totally oblivious.”
I’ve never preformed open heart surgery...But I did stay in a holiday inn express.../s
Oh, I'm afraid that it does. Unless you've been in the position of being assigned a room with multiple roommates that you've never met before; unless you've been forced to shower and use the toilet facilities with others on a day-by-day basis, you really are oblivious to what the military life is all about.
If a male homosexual, who is oriented to desire sex with males, can share living quarters, bathroom, and shower facilities with heterosexual males, then a male heterosexual .. who is oriented to desire sex with females .. should be equally permitted to be eligible to room with the females in that unit.
Face it ... if you haven't lived the life (and, by "live", I mean spend a week or two out in a field environment, sharing your living arrangements at a most basic level), then, yes, you are oblivious.
-------------------------------------------------------
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Swear allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer;
Never hint at what you really feel.
Teach the children quietly for, someday, sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still.
Der Elite Møøsënspåånkængrüppen ØberKømmändø (EMØØK)
Homosexuality has been regarded as a mental illness throughout time by virtually all cultures, as posted by another Freeper here. Only recently, in Western cultures, has it been removed from the list of mental disabilities due to political correctness.
Homosexuals and lesbians consider themselves to be part of a larger community, LGBTT:lesbian, gay,bisexual,transgender and transvestite. Are you willing to argue that the last two are not suffering from mental illness and if so, why not the first two?
Can you not see with this administration that if you allow the first two then you must allow all of them?
The US Armed Forces are the finest military in the world, they are not a social experiment. Allowing open homosexuals and whatever follows would have no benefit and would only harm.
We shall agree to disagree.
I’m not qualified to wear the Dolphins.
But yes, I have spent some time sleeping on top of a Mk48 torpedo. As a civilian contractor doing work on subs for the Royal Australian Navy. (see .sig)
The last work I did on subs was at Haifa Naval Base in Israel a couple of years ago.
You just have to remember to check your maidenly modesty at the torpedo hatch when you go on board. It’s not a big deal. On board a sub, everyone’s lives depend on every person on board Not Screwing Up. Even seariders know that if they just get in the way by not moving fast enough when things are going pear-shaped, everyone could die.
Our new subs have co-ed facilities, female-only sleeping accommodation, but in my day, they didn’t. And submariners wives were far more concerned that the female engineers do their job and help keep their husbands safe than that they’d indulge in hanky-panky. There is NO privacy on board a donk. (Diesel sub).
I realise that for cultural reasons the US may be a little scared about the issue. Just because the rest of the anglosphere considers your customs a little odd doesn’t mean you have to change them.
How many Arabs are in Afghanistan?
interesting you would contrast a pregnant soldier with a 'fling' between homosexuals..
one need only look to the destruction of the Catholic church by a gay-infiltrated priesthood engaged in 'flings' to determine the detrimental effects of 'gay integration'. IMO
Gays in the military
Should openly gay men and women be allowed to serve in the U.S. military?
Yes 52%
No 44%
In a limited capacity 4%
Total Votes: 389
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