tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post6711900142439941162..comments2024-03-27T20:37:08.065+01:00Comments on Defence and Freedom: Gays and the armyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-45630236758884792642012-03-29T04:42:17.317+02:002012-03-29T04:42:17.317+02:00Someone tried to peg my opinion on homosexuality a...Someone tried to peg my opinion on homosexuality and women in the military. I could only answer with a simplest versions of objectives and then examined pure competition.<br /><br />The objective of combat is to win/survive.<br /><br />If I go into combat, I want to win.<br /><br />If I send someone into combat, I want them to win.<br /><br />If my country must fight in combat, I want my country to win.<br /><br />Combat favors the best competitor.<br /><br />The business of military is competition.<br /><br />The business of sports is to inspire through comptetition; but, it's not combat.<br /><br />The military is not a social experiment and soldiers' lives are too valueable to risk playing these politics--aren't they?<br /><br />If it doesn't matter that we risk soldiers' lives, failing in combat, and losing nation status, then why don't we have racial quotas for basketball teams? <br /><br />Why aren't their equal percentages of women on a football teams<br /><br />Why aren't we interested in the sexual representation of athletes--athlete who are all making huge impacts in sports fans' lives? <br /><br />What makes sports competition immune to such social daliances? Is not more wealth risked in war? Is not sport arenas less important?<br /><br />Combat and war are some of the ugliest of human actions with the furthest reaching consequences. Why prolong it and why turn it into a political show for voters.<br /><br />Of course I know. It's because people get enamored with the parade uniforms and it spurs fantasy (sometimes sexual). For the sake of a fantasy, we risk our very existence. Sexual fantasy may feed a violent frenzy, but violent frenzy spurred by unbridaled fantasy won't serve poltical ends favorably. Armies that gave its soldiers sexual reward for its battlefield victories have always been actions condemned by History. But, armies with the tightest disciplines always have the sharper edge in combat. Countries with the best disciplined armies are always most likely to continue their culture even in the face of monstrously larger competitors.<br /><br />I expect barracks gang rapes, fragging, and murder because of this. But, I also know it will be covered up because there are too many politicians who will enjoy their privately own uniformed harem of privates who service their privates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-72531451722364633152011-09-24T23:08:34.236+02:002011-09-24T23:08:34.236+02:00You assume a slightly decrease in the recruiting p...You assume a slightly decrease in the recruiting pool. Well this assumption doesn't take in to account that the kind of man, which is suitable for military duty, will actually be reluctant to do duty:<br />1. Under a woman as superior officer.<br />2. With his back to the wall all the time.<br />The wester armies and their repeated failures to win actual wars are not a good examples to the contrary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-18447033194999092932010-11-08T14:53:30.106+01:002010-11-08T14:53:30.106+01:00DADT is a stupid policy, but it has sound reasonin...DADT is a stupid policy, but it has sound reasoning.<br />Theres a lot of very good work on the subject by an author called stephanie gutmaan, she used to blog on The Telegraph Blogs.<br /><br />There isnt a secret movement in the US Armed Forces hell bent on weeding out Gays.<br />But there is an acceptance that 18 women in a 20 bunk room on a carrier are made uncomfortable when the other 2 are having noisey sex.<br />Yes, it wasnt just secretly gay macho men who "hated fags", theres reams and reams of complaints by women against other women.<br /><br />If you want to be discharged from the US armed forces, the easiest method is to write, "I am a homosexual" on a piece of paper, sign it, and hand it to your C/O.<br />The vast majority of unfairly discharged "gays" did exactly that.<br /><br />It doesnt take a genious to work out they just wanted out of the army, and took the quickest route available.<br /><br />Link to one post by SG, theres a few if you care to google<br />http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/stephaniegutmann/100024228/obama-and-gays-in-the-military-if-it-aint-broke/Domohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00240964731398145995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-75587883863675777382010-11-07T23:32:13.471+01:002010-11-07T23:32:13.471+01:00Thinkdefence, could you please point out what exac...Thinkdefence, could you please point out what exactly is supposedly bigoted in here?S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-86302542037170264722010-11-07T22:54:53.084+01:002010-11-07T22:54:53.084+01:00Correct me if I'm wrong but we need to give ou...Correct me if I'm wrong but we need to give our Drill Instructors some credit here. Don't you have to satisfy them prior to graduating basic training. They have been weeding out undesirables for a long time now. <br />They plant the seeds to unit cohesion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-68610369231194712932010-11-07T22:38:01.943+01:002010-11-07T22:38:01.943+01:00Sven, I don't know how you have the affront to...Sven, I don't know how you have the affront to question me for a light hearted joke but publish a bigoted post like this. <br /><br />It really does beggar beliefthinkdefencehttp://www.thinkdefence.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-36548313369109839022010-11-07T19:30:52.726+01:002010-11-07T19:30:52.726+01:00The very same arguments WERE used against African ...The very same arguments WERE used against African Americans...<br /><br />Big racial problems didn't actually materialize until the Vietnam war. Yeah, there were some problems on a small scale, but in the Army, much of the integration actually happened in combat. During the start of the Korean War.<br /><br />The big difference is that gays are already serving in most units. And in many cases their comrades know who they are. There is nothing experimental about it. It's just fear. Not necessarily fear of gays, but fear of change. The whole cohesion argument is also BS. In fact it's merely an excuse for the ban. When the generals could no longer claim some moral reasons, they made up stuff about cohesion and effectiveness.<br /><br />Also ask yourself which people have more social cohesion (which should not be confused with task cohesion). The ones who lie and keep each other at arms length because some have to keep secrets and can't join all conversations? Or the ones who can be completely honest and talk with each other?Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-47750750686884782682010-11-07T11:47:53.858+01:002010-11-07T11:47:53.858+01:00@Anon:
The contest of incompetence between Iraq an...@Anon:<br />The contest of incompetence between Iraq and Iran was of little interest on land. I referred to the South Ossetia conflict which was fought mostly with 70's technology on at least technologically even ground.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-69968610484861110502010-11-07T10:59:31.675+01:002010-11-07T10:59:31.675+01:00I'm sorry Sven, but let's call a spade a s...I'm sorry Sven, but let's call a spade a spade. These concerns about 'unit cohesion' are about fears that openly serving homosexuals will be ostracised by their bigoted comrades. These very same arguments could have been used to argue against racial integration.<br /><br />That's not to say they're totally invalid. In the case of racial integration there were definitely some problems with racism among the soldiers, but we integrated because it was the right thing to do, because it respected the equal(not separate but equal) dignity of American men of all races who wanted to serve their country. If soldiers aren't professional enough to treat their comrades with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, then the armed forces have a more serious cultural poblem that needs addressing.<br /><br />And it's not as if there aren't homosexuals serving in the military under this law. They're forced to lie to the world about who they are every day under this policy. These men are fighting and dying and they deserve to do so in honesty and dignity.Dr. Lunynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-83825065561070440682010-11-07T05:02:17.311+01:002010-11-07T05:02:17.311+01:00Having both gays and females in the combat arms se...Having both gays and females in the combat arms seems to be a non-issue for the Canadians in Afghanistan.<br /><br />I suspect the military leadership were concerned about it when it was imposed on them, but it really turned out to be mostly a non-event.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-63353934032305236092010-11-07T02:05:36.153+01:002010-11-07T02:05:36.153+01:00>The closest thing we know is 70's technolo...>The closest thing we know is 70's technology conventional warfare between very dissimilar powers.<br /><br />Are you referring to Vietnam or Iran-Iraq war?<br /><br />I think the latter can give us a far better indication on modern conventional warfare, even if the armies involved were second rate and the terrain quite specific, since they were roughly the same strength. We also saw trenches, blitzkrieg(you wrote on this a bit, if my memory serves) and chemical warfare together.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com