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(Oklahoma City) Cindy Sheehan, well known peace activist and political candidate, who had a son killed in the Bu$h Junta's invasion of Iraq, has written an article reflecting on the recent commencement of the process to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), the 1993 policy signed by President Bill Clinton to discriminate against gays and lesbians in the American military and now repealed by Congress and President Obama this month.
In my view Sheehan is squarely on the mark as she points out there is no equivalency in acknowledging the civil rights of minorities as a useful mission of the military.
Any country's primary use of its military resources is about learning to kill effectively on command. From the lowest rookie recruit in the kitchen/laundry support services to the highest commander in combat to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military's job is about destruction of lives and property without second thought or reflection beforehand when the boot meets the ground, the finger meets the trigger, where the eye focuses on the cross-hairs, at the last link in the chain of command.
All the face time that news commentators such as Rachel Maddow have given to the gays/lesbians on the news shows has distracted us from the job those kicked out were doing.
Concerning two of the most prominent faces in the DADT separations, Fahrenback was/wants to continue to be a F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. Choi is/wants to continue as a translator but also lead men in combat as an infantry platoon leader.
The removal of DADT is an improvement for those wishing to live in the military occupation, but I do not feel proud for myself.
I don't feel comfortable about our equality movement having our birthright recognized by bringing death and violence to innocent people through the actions of legally openly serving gay men and women in any military, regardless of country.
Gay men and women having been serving for centuries in military occupations, a historical fact even acknowledged by President Obama in his DADT-repeal signing remarks. We've been waving the flag and participating in a pseudo-Norman Rockwell parade painting through the generations during which time we were still made a fecal target.
Spare me the observation that gays in the military can be used to disprove the stereotype of gay men having no courage, that manliness knows no sexual orientation. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) knows no orientation either.
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Don't Go, Don't Kill!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27118.htm
The repeal of don't ask, don't Tell for gays in the US military is not a positive step for equality, activist says.
By Cindy Sheehan
December 23, 2010 "Al-Jazeera" - -The recent repeal of the US military policy of "Don- -- - t ask, don- -- - t tell" is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanizing two populations as well as numerous other victims of it's clandestine "security" policies.
In my view Sheehan is squarely on the mark as she points out there is no equivalency in acknowledging the civil rights of minorities as a useful mission of the military.
Any country's primary use of its military resources is about learning to kill effectively on command. From the lowest rookie recruit in the kitchen/laundry support services to the highest commander in combat to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military's job is about destruction of lives and property without second thought or reflection beforehand when the boot meets the ground, the finger meets the trigger, where the eye focuses on the cross-hairs, at the last link in the chain of command.
All the face time that news commentators such as Rachel Maddow have given to the gays/lesbians on the news shows has distracted us from the job those kicked out were doing.
Concerning two of the most prominent faces in the DADT separations, Fahrenback was/wants to continue to be a F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. Choi is/wants to continue as a translator but also lead men in combat as an infantry platoon leader.
The removal of DADT is an improvement for those wishing to live in the military occupation, but I do not feel proud for myself.
I don't feel comfortable about our equality movement having our birthright recognized by bringing death and violence to innocent people through the actions of legally openly serving gay men and women in any military, regardless of country.
Gay men and women having been serving for centuries in military occupations, a historical fact even acknowledged by President Obama in his DADT-repeal signing remarks. We've been waving the flag and participating in a pseudo-Norman Rockwell parade painting through the generations during which time we were still made a fecal target.
Spare me the observation that gays in the military can be used to disprove the stereotype of gay men having no courage, that manliness knows no sexual orientation. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) knows no orientation either.
----------------------
Don't Go, Don't Kill!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27118.htm
The repeal of don't ask, don't Tell for gays in the US military is not a positive step for equality, activist says.
By Cindy Sheehan
December 23, 2010 "Al-Jazeera" - -The recent repeal of the US military policy of "Don- -- - t ask, don- -- - t tell" is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanizing two populations as well as numerous other victims of it's clandestine "security" policies.
