Today's NYT
column points out the irony of a military that refuses ready and willing servicemembers merely because of their sexual orientation while it is so overextended that it has to institute a back-door draft:
An analysis of Pentagon data reveals that the military is losing gay troops in the occupational areas where shortfalls are most dire. In addition to the "stop loss" orders that prompted last week's lawsuit, the Pentagon has recalled thousands of former troops from civilian life to fill these gaps.
Many of these recalls would have been unnecessary if the military had not fired so many gay service members. This year the Pentagon approved the recall of 72 veterans in communication and navigation, but it has expelled 115 gay troops in that category since 1998; it recalled 33 in operational intelligence but has expelled 50 gays; in combat operations control, it recalled 33 but expelled 106.
Just another example of how the current government puts ideology ahead of the safety of its own citizens. <sigh>
Look what the military is missing out on:
Overall, the military has announced the recall of 5,674 veterans since June, but has discharged 6,416 soldiers under its "don't ask, don't tell" policy since 1998, including 1,655 since the wars in the Middle East began. The discharges covered people in 161 occupational specialties, including linguists; intelligence personnel; nuclear, biological and chemical warfare experts; artillery specialists; and missile guidance and control operators.
It's just crazy. It just goes to show how discrimination hurts the ones who do the discriminating as well as the ones who are discriminated against. Ya know, if those ho-mo-sec-shuals are so scary, why don't we send them over to Iraq to scare off the insurgents? Why let them stay here, where they could be trying to ruin the institution of marriage by entering loving partnerships, when they could be off in some foreign land getting shot at? It just blows the mind.
The author points out an amount of popular support for allowing gays in the military that surprised me:
Seventy-nine percent of the public now favors letting gays serve openly. For the first time, a majority of junior enlisted personnel support open gays in the military.
Considering the amount of anti-gay sentiment in the country today, I can barely believe those numbers, and if they're true, I'm really happy to see so many people supporting inclusiveness.
Of course, the conclusion is just wishful thinking:
President Bush has positioned himself as a "compassionate conservative" who values fairness and inclusiveness. If he truly wants to disavow discrimination, he should ask Congress to place the evidence ahead of prejudice and reconsider the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. It would be the right thing both for our troops and for national security.
Under this administration, with this Congress, never gonna happen. But if so many people support allowing gays to serve openly, is it only a matter of time before the policy changes? I know the military is slow to change, and anything involving gay rights is pretty much untouchable in politics right now, but under a Democratic adminstration and Congress, maybe it could happen. I hope.
But until then, it'll be a long four years of fighting in Iraq and defending our country without all of the talented, determined people who could be doing their part.