Comments on: Army Won’t Discharge Deploying Gays

By: RGardner

RGardner — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 05:53:18 +0000

This one has me scratching my balding head. DADT has always been, so far, a commanders'discretion item for years, unless pressed. I'd guess at least 20% of the sailors on USS McKee when I served in the early 90s were gay (mostly female, since the crew was well over 50% female). It just wasn't talked about as this was before DADT. [For those who do not know/remember, USS McKee was the subject of a 60 Minutes show about the witch hunt that occurred over lesbians in the Navy in the mid-1980s)

I also saw some very bad sexual politics. That is another subject largely ignored.

By: Dean Esmay

Dean Esmay — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 23:20:17 +0000

Color me confused. Not that I don't think DADT has proven pointless and counterproductive--it has--but as I read it, this says that if they get a complaint about homosexuality BEFORE they get orders for deployment, they're to be ignored. Which would seem to suggest that they can proceed with discharge AFTER they get unit activation orders.

In other words, I'm completely lost because that makes no sense at all. Someone straighten me out here.

By: slickdpdx

slickdpdx — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:31:15 +0000

A damn interesting post!

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:21:56 +0000

Jim: Presuming this is actually the policy, I agree. The policy is on its last legs, anyway, given broader acceptance of gays in society.

By: Jim Henley

Jim Henley — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:14:11 +0000

Oh he's good! (RabidRick I mean.) Satire needs to walk the knife edge of believability.

James, this has to be the death knell of the formal prohibition on gays in the armed services. The respectable argument advanced in favor of existing policy was that out homosexuals would reduce unit cohesion in combat. A policy that allows out homosexuals to serve in time of war but proscribes them in peace makes less than no sense per the official, often-stated rationale.

By: Rabid Rick

Rabid Rick — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:04:03 +0000

This is pretty disturbing news. Since the ban on homosexual fornicators is put in place in order to insure operational efficiency, this means that order and effectiveness are being thrown to the wind.

Now the troops are going to be guided by latent satanic desires and will be focusing on carnal desires as opposed to beating the terrorists.

As long as homosexuals are accepted in the military, the terrorists will have an advantage.