I've never made a secret of the fact that I find "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to be a flawed policy, and the ban on homosexuals serving to be equally flawed. But this argument in support of it is particularly dumb.

Even its supporters acknowledge that don't ask, don't tell isn't perfect.

"It's like what Churchill said about democracy -- it's the worst system possible, except for all the other ones," said Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University who helped craft the policy.

But, Mr. Moskos said, allowing openly homosexual service members would hurt the morale of the military rank and file and make many recruits uncomfortable.

"There are few situations in life where you're forced to live in intimate circumstances not of your choosing," he said.

I cannot help but point out the flaw in Moskos' position on the issue.

First, we have an all volunteer military. Nobody is "forced" to be a part of it. Individuals voluntarily chose to submit themselves to military discipline and military policies.

If anything, Moskos' argument is much more suited to arguing that the desegregation of the military by Harry Truman was unwise and inappropriate. After all, that happened during the days of the military draft, when there wre thousands of American men involuntarily serving and being forced to live in circumstances not of their choosing. Many of them, especially those born and raised in the segregated South, had no desire to live and work as equals with blacks -- much less find themselves under the command authority of those they had been raised to view as "niggers" who were inferior to any white man. Truman ordered desegregation to happen, and made it clear that those who could not accept the policy should be prepared to leave the military. And it worked.

Ending the ban on homosexuals serving in the military would create no more serious problem -- and those who find themselves unable or unwilling to serve with their fellow Americans on an equal basis should be prepared to leave teh military under less than honorable circumstances.

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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