"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- A Threat to National Security
It's now possible for gay men and lesbian women to live reasonably "normal" lives in modern America. To date openly. To marry in some states (soon to be all of them). To maintain legal arrangements similar to marriage in states that haven't caught up with reality yet. To adopt.
Unless they're in the military.
If they're in the military, then they are vulnerable -- notbecause of their sexual orientation, but because of the military's policy of requiring that that orientation be kept secret on pain of discharge.
Because they are vulnerable, the military is vulnerable. "Don't ask, don't tell" makes every man and woman in the military -- of any sexual orientation, because a false allegation can be just as much a career-killer as a real one -- a potential vector for infiltration by foreign intelligence services.
http://knappster.blogspot.com/2010/02/dont-ask-dont-tell-threat-to-national.html
- Category: US Politics
- Planted: 5th Feb
- Buzzed: 1 time in 2 years 3 days
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Could homosexuals under DADT become a national security risk? I don’t think that the fear of being exposed by a foreign entity would cause the service member to compromise national security. After all, these individuals have sacrificed their personal lives to serve and defend their nation. If they were so easily influenced, odds are they wouldn’t have signed up to begin with.
On the other hand, it only takes one person to cause a lot of damage. We have seen the damage done by a single compromised serviceman in the past. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people at Fort Hood in November. Warrant Officer John Walker, Jr. passed cryptographic secrets to the Soviets for 17 years during the Cold War. These two individuals are just examples of how it takes just one person to negatively impact the armed forces as well as putting many at risk.
http://uscommonsense.net/blog/2010/02/06/dont-ask-dont-tell/
