With most of our Allies having years of experience without a ban in place against homosexual soldiers, justifying DADT becomes more and more difficult for its proponents. Elaine Donnelly must not be pleased. Indeed from what I've seen from her lately, she ain't.
In 1993, Congress banned known homosexuals from the military, convinced their presence could undermine morale and discipline. That year, Israel took exactly the opposite approach.
All restrictions on gay and lesbian soldiers were dropped. Homosexuals in the Israel Defense Forces could join close-knit combat units or serve in sensitive intelligence posts. They were eligible for promotion to the highest ranks.
Fourteen years later, Israelis are convinced they made the right decision.
"It's a non-issue," said David Saranga, a former IDF officer and now Israel's consul for media and public affairs in New York. "There is not a problem with your sexual tendency. You can be a very good officer, a creative one, a brave one and be gay at the same time."
Israel is among 24 countries that permit known gays to serve in the military, and its experience is giving fodder to opponents of the United States' controversial "Don't ask, don't tell" policy... (St. Petersburg Times)
2 comments:
Warning: non-pc comment straight ahead...
I hope the DADT rule just dies a natural death...withers away. It is one of teh stupidest bureaucratic "solutions" I ever saw.
I do wonder about women serving in equal #s on the front. It's a physical fact: the "average" woman doesn't have enough testosterone to keep up with the "average" man.
In Israel, they found this out slowly. In the beginning, every single warm body was needed to prevent their extinction. But there is unhappiness with the present situation. Though no one will say so out loud.
As in WWII there are a great many places a woman can serve -- and some damned dangerous ones, too. Women in the underground all over Europe proved that.
The question can be framed in such a way that it looks at the reality: given two equally trained soldiers, one man and one woman, who do you, as a fellow soldier, pick for your partner in the foxhole?
Ideally two women would share the same small space but how likely is that?
The standards should be the same as they are now, with gays and women in general being held to them. All they need is the opportunity to show that can do the job instead of being automatically disqualified because of their gender or sexuality.
Post a Comment