Gays now allowed in US military

a_unique_person

Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
a_unique_person
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http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/02/gays.military.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays says he no longer opposes allowing them to serve openly.
John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation's top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units. He said he has changed his mind after meeting with gay servicemen.
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Big risk that, meeting some gay servicemen. How many years did he wait to do that?
 
Hmmmm - are U.S. Forces having trouble in meeting recruitment/re-enlistment targets?

Cynic that I am, that is the only reason I can see for this volte-face.
 
Ummm... I think one formerly high ranking senior officer saying he's no longer opposed to allowing gays/lesbians to serve versus simply opening the gates and inviting all the gay and lesbian potential service people to sashay on through in their Birkenstocks and Prada manbags are two different things.

Its a small move forward, but I believe 'Don't ask, don't tell' is still fully entrenched.

One has to wonder - where did he meet these gay servicemen, anyways? Hmm....???
 
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On the down side, now there's going to be an annoyhing humming sound at Arlington Nation Cemetary all the time, caused by Gen. G. S. Patton constantly rolling over in his grave...
 
Skeptic said:
On the down side, now there's going to be an annoyhing humming sound at Arlington Nation Cemetary all the time, caused by Gen. G. S. Patton constantly rolling over in his grave...
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Hasn't that been going on for some time now - ever since the first black general was appointed?
 
I hope this doesn't bring the morale of our soldiers down from their current high.
 
Earthborn said:
More importantly, how did he know they were gay? Did he ask them? Did they tell him? Was it tatooed on their foreheads?
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It doesn't matter, since he is retired and not acting in an official capacity.

DR
 
Didaktylos said:
Hmmmm - are U.S. Forces having trouble in meeting recruitment/re-enlistment targets?

Cynic that I am, that is the only reason I can see for this volte-face.
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One would wonder if the benefit would outweight the downside, which is straights refusing to join up for good old homophobic reasons, which, as you all remember, was the original core reason (right or not) to refuse gays in the military in the first place.
 
Beerina said:
One would wonder if the benefit would outweight the downside, which is straights refusing to join up for good old homophobic reasons, which, as you all remember, was the original core reason (right or not) to refuse gays in the military in the first place.
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One simultaneously wonders how much these fears are misplaced.
 
a_unique_person said:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/02/gays.military.ap/index.html
Big risk that, meeting some gay servicemen. How many years did he wait to do that?
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By the way, AUP, you are a confirmed liar.

You entitled this thread origniating
Gays now allowed in US military

The article you link to is entitled:

'Don't ask, tell' proponent: Military now ready for gays
The substance of the article shows that Congress has changed no rule, yet, and that a retired general involved in the "don't ask don't tell" decision has reconsidered his previous position. Nothing has changed, under law or under regulation, that makes your assertion in the title true. Indeed, with the regulations as they are, quite the opposite is the case.

Your thread title is a blatant falsehood, a complete misrepresentation of the fact of where the homosexuals fit in the military, as of the time and date you posted this. So you are a liar, convicted by your own deliberate lie in your thread title. What you intention was is yours to know. The facts speak for themselves.

This wasn't the matter of a simple error, AUP, this is an obviously crafted, deliberate falsehood.

DR
 
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When they saluted, they said 'Yes Sssshir' with just a little lisp. And a wink. And they use a little product in their buzzcuts. And, they understand the importance of moisturizing after using a mud mask.

You know - the little signs.
 
Darth Rotor said:
So you are a liar, convicted by your own deliberate lie in your thread title. What you intention was is yours to know. The facts speak for themselves.

This wasn't the matter of a simple error, AUP, this is an obviously crafted, deliberate falsehood.
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If you don't know what his intention was, why do you assume it was deliberate? And why is it worth attacking him for? It's not like he's slandering anyone.
 
Cleon said:
If you don't know what his intention was, why do you assume it was deliberate? And why is it worth attacking him for? It's not like he's slandering anyone.
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You may have a point, Cleon, but in the past three months, AUP has with some frequency called other posters here at the JREF "liars." (I am thinking Mycroft, and a few others he often argues with, perhaps The Fool.)

I figured I'd spell out his lie, his intentionally false title.

If you read his post as a sloppy/careless title that was in error, I think I can see that PoV, except for the facts of the link being unrelated to his opening statement. I note that posting titles are often like headlines: often misleading with the intention of getting attention. (Mephisto does this now and again.)

If it walks like a duck, perhaps it isn't a buzard. This looks to me like a deliberate falsehood, aimed at attracting attention to his post.

If I were to post an opener for a thread: "American Jews Deny Armenian Holocaust" and then link to a web article from CNN that discusses a number of American Jewish scholars at a meeting regarding the Armenian Holocaust, an academic conference, (not a conference like recently in Teheran) I'd be as guilty of a lie by deliberate false labeling, wouldn't I?

DR
 
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Darth Rotor said:
You may have a point, Cleon, but in the past three months, AUP has with some frequency called other posters here at the JREF "liars." (I am thinking Mycroft, and a few others he often argues with, perhaps The Fool.)
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I can't answer to those specific accusations, but some of the people AUP argues with do have a history of playing fast and loose with facts in order to justify their ideologies.

I figured I'd spell out his lie, his intentionally false title.
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Again...How do you know it was intentional?

If I were to post an opener for a thread: "American Jews Deny Armenian Holocaust" and then link to a web article from CNN that discusses a number of American Jewish scholars at a meeting regarding the Armenian Holocaust, an academic conference, (not a conference like recently in Teheran) I'd be as guilty of a lie by deliberate false labeling, wouldn't I?
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Do you have any actual contribution to make to this thread, or are you simply trying to draw AUP into a flame war?
 
Antiquehunter said:
Ummm... I think one formerly high ranking senior officer saying he's no longer opposed to allowing gays/lesbians to serve versus simply opening the gates and inviting all the gay and lesbian potential service people to sashay on through in their Birkenstocks and Prada manbags are two different things.
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Sashaying lesbians? Maybe that would help amp up straight male recruitment. Where do I sign?
 
Earthborn said:
More importantly, how did he know they were gay? Did he ask them? Did they tell him? Was it tatooed on their foreheads?
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If I were to hazard a guess, this was probably a meeting set up by a support group for gay service members like SLDN or something. Or maybe just some individual people sent him a note saying "we're gay, we serve our country, and we'd like to sit down and talk to you for a while about this issue." Trying to set up such meetings is pretty common for any sort of activism.
 
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