Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
Posted on 03/04/2010 9:07:09 PM PST by jazusamo
WASHINGTON -- He had to give them something. During his first year in office, Barack Obama made the rounds of his constituents and tried to appease them all. For the pacifists, there were promises to get out of Iraq. Self-loathing Americans were given a global kowtowing presidential apology tour. The Marxist-librarian constituency was assuaged when he accepted communist literature from Hugo Chavez. To satisfy Rodney King "can we all get along?" adherents, Mr. Obama promised to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Proponents of global environmental policy, universal health care, nationalized industry and massive government all got something.
But the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, which worked so hard to elect Mr. Obama, wasn't feeling the love. The president wouldn't let them out of the closet, they argued, and their patience was wearing thin. POTUS had to give them reason to stay in the fold.
The payoff came in his State of the Union address, when Mr. Obama went off on another frolic and diversion in declaring, "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."
That set Washington's Self-Esteem Caucus on full throttle. "Fairness" is liberalism's golden calf and now a central organizing principle of Mr. Obama's national security policy. The pundits, citing politicians and polls, declared that "society has moved on" and that the 1993 law barring active homosexuals from military service is "old and outdated."
When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went so far as to suggest that he was prepared to ignore enforcement of the law, he wasn't chastised; he was commended. Others who once stood up for our military and its families but who now voice support for opening the military to active homosexuals are -- for the first time in their careers -- cited by the media as "authoritative," even "heroic."
Such is the inane duplicity that passes for governance in our nation's capital. Proponents of overturning the law cite the hurt feelings of homosexuals, their "integrity" and the ever-popular "aw, shucks, gee whiz, can't we just let these nice folks serve the country they love?" argument. But few have actually addressed the national security implications of such a change. Now the Joint Chiefs of Staff have done just that.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey informed the Senate Armed Services Committee he has "serious concerns" about repealing the law in the midst of war. "We just don't know the impacts on readiness and military effectiveness," Casey testified.
A somewhat softer note was sounded by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, who said, "This is not the time to perturb the force that is, at the moment, stretched by demands in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere without careful deliberation."
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, testified that he endorsed a "study" of the issue because "only with that information can we discuss the force that we have, not someone else's." He also resisted a "freeze" on discharges for homosexual behavior, citing duty to "the families that support the force."
The straightest shooting of all was done by Gen. James Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps. In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 24, he said, "Unless we can strip away the emotion, the agendas and the politics and ask ... 'Do we somehow enhance the war-fighting capabilities of the United States Marine Corps by allowing homosexuals to openly serve?' then we haven't addressed it from the correct perspective." Then he reloaded.
After observing that proponents of repeal have failed to produce any evidence that openly homosexual individuals' serving in uniform will improve combat readiness, Conway unequivocally stated: "At this point ... my best military advice to this committee, to the secretary and to the president would be to keep the law such as it is."
Whether Mr. Obama and his allies in Congress will heed this wise advice from a war fighter remains to be seen. Buck McKeon, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, has cautioned, "Before the president or special interests force a change in the policy or law, Congress deserves to see from the services concrete, in-depth evidence that readiness concerns require a change and that such a change would not degrade wartime military readiness."
Rep. McKeon is right. Defense Secretary Gates, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Mr. Obama need to call a halt to their planned "moratorium" on discharges for those who engage in homosexual behavior. The 1993 law is clear that such conduct presents "an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." Perhaps the commander in chief can explain how, in the midst of war, any of that has changed.
Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps has the right perspective. If having gays openly serve makes the U.S. forces more effective as a fighting force, then fine, do it. If it is otherwise, then no. We should not do it. The ONLY important metric for any decision regarding the military is whether or not it improves or diminishes fighting effectiveness. NOTHING else matters.
Honestly, I don’t really care. I served a couple of decades ago. Everybody knew who on the ship was a “little bit light in the loafers”. Ya know what? Nobody really cared all that much.
One big problem with the DADT (don’t ask, don’t tell) policy is the inherent security risk that closeted gays present. Somebody that’s totally in the closet, perhaps even married, is a huge target for blackmail by foreign operators. Curiously enough, somebody that’s totally “out” and openly gay doesn’t present the same sort of risk. They’re not going to be blackmailed... because nobody cares.
But the bottom line is whether or not military readiness and effectiveness is improved or degraded. Beyond that, there is no metric that matters. The military is not a playground for social experimentation. The military doesn’t need to be “fair”. It’s not important. What’s important is that they can kick @ss better than anybody else on the planet. That’s the thing, and it’s the only thing.
I want my fellow soldiers watching my back, not my ass!
82nd ABN Div. 1/508th Bn, Fire Team Leader Alfa!!
Thanks Mr. North for your service to our Country!!
That right there is an American Hero. We pray for a full recovery for Ollie and prayers of strength for his family and many steadfast friends.
Tell it like it is, Colonel North! You rock out loud.
....and you know what this would do to military morale!
IMO, Don't ask/don't tell was a bad decision; but what they now want to do would be worse.
As you statd, they have always been there, but just did their jobs and went about their business. There were a few incidents, but NOTHING like there will be if they feel they have won the right to be in your face.
Just as with blacks, they will not ALL be obnoxious, but a lot will--they will have leaders/agitators like Jackson and Sharpton to egg them on. It would also give them the incentive for more to join. I believe, ultimately, it would be a huge distraction.
vaudine
I didn’t see him on Greta’s show tonight but I’ve noticed his looks recently on a couple of other appearances.
The first part of December it was announced that he was under treatment for prostate cancer and I haven’t heard any more on the subject, and I’ve looked. Hopefully the treatment is successful, my thoughts and prayers are with him.
Yea Ollie right on!!!!!
The president wouldn’t let them out of the closet,
wow thats what Larry Sinclair said too.
Thanks for the ping jaz.
“The straightest shooting of all was done by Gen. James Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps. In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 24, he said, “Unless we can strip away the emotion, the agendas and the politics and ask ... ‘Do we somehow enhance the war-fighting capabilities of the United States Marine Corps by allowing homosexuals to openly serve?’ then we haven’t addressed it from the correct perspective.” Then he reloaded.”
There’s the comprehensive answer to any change right there.
I had an unwelcome homo solicitation in the confines of the barracks when I was stationed in a remote location in the U.S. Air Force. Yeah, it freaked me out and it was hard to cross paths with that fag for the rest of my tour. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone!
You’re correct, and Gen. Conway already knows the answer to that.
I’m happy that Ollie wrote another column on this. His column a month ago drew the condemnation of the uber lib and gay websites, they were calling him everything negative they could think up. I was getting Google alerts about him from these wacko sites up to about a week ago, this will get them back into gear. LOL!
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