Discrimination is Deadly !

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
U.S. miscalculationsleft troops vulnerable Pentagon underestimated number of MPs, Arabic translators needed
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Posted: July 10, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Paul Sperry
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon underestimated the number of military police and Arabic-speaking interrogators it would need to occupy Iraq, and the miscalculations have left U.S. troops there more vulnerable to ambush, U.S. officials say.

source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33505
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Tampa Bay Coalition
Eye on GLBT News & Headlines
by R. Zeke Fread
November 10, 2002
 
"Don't Ask - Don't Tell - No Gay Arabic Linguists"
 
The Army has fired a significant number of Arabic translators and interpreters desperately needed for the
war on terrorism, because they are Gay.
 
On September 17th, 2002, just six days following the horrific terrorists attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller made an urgent appeal. He stated that the FBI is actively seeking and recruiting English speaking individuals with professional level proficiently in Arabic. There remains a desperate need in the intelligence community and defense fields for qualified Arabic linguists.
 
Just last month Defense Officials said the Army was considering recruiting foreigners from middle eastern countries in their special forces. Also, the House Armed Services Terrorist Subcommittee recently found that the FBI is backlogged with thousands of unreviewed and untranslated materials, as well as a critical shortage of translators. According to a study by the General Accounting Office, GAO, the Army authorized 84 Arabic translators positions in 2001 and were only able to fill 42 of them. The study concluded, "the shortage has adversely affected agency operations and compromised U.S. military, law enforcement, intelligence, counterterrorism and diplomatic efforts."

source: http://www.tampabaycoalition.com/files/1110TBCGayArabicLinguistsOpEd.htm
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Published on Wednesday, December 31, 2003 by PlanetOut
Poll: Overwhelming Support for Gays in the Military

by Patrick Letellier

"After 10 years of Don't Ask, Don't tell, the public understands that discrimination undermines military effectiveness," said Geoffrey Bateman, Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in a prepared statement.

Approximately 10,000 gay and lesbian servicemembers have been discharged under the policy since its inception in 1993.

Bateman believes the highly publicized firing of nine gay language experts last year may have swayed public opinion about gays in the military. The linguists were proficient in Arabic, a language the military needed expertise in to aid in the U.S. government's war on terror.

"Apparently, the Bush administration thinks the war on terror should take second place to the war on homosexuals," wrote journalist John Aravosis at the time the nine linguists were fired.

According to the CSSMM, almost 40 linguists have been fired over the past two years for being gay or lesbian.

source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1231-09.htm
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Effects of Lifting of Restrictions on Gay and Lesbian Service in the Israeli Forces: Appraising the Evidence
By Aaron Belkin and Melissa Levitt
June, 2000

V. OFFICIAL MILITARY POLICY CONCERNING SEXUAL MINORITIES

Due to both its sustained personnel needs and a recognition of the importance of military service to full societal acceptance, the IDF has never formally barred homosexuals from serving in its ranks.

source: http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/Publications/IsraelPub1.htm
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 Pentagon Alerted to Trouble in Ranks
    By Ken Silverstein
    Los Angeles Times

    Thursday 01 July 2004

Reports over a decade have warned of recruits with criminal pasts and of the violent behavior of some active-duty service members.

    Washington - The Pentagon was warned repeatedly going back a decade that it was accepting military recruits with criminal histories and was too lenient with those already in uniform who exhibited violent or other troubling behavior.

    Six studies prepared over 10 years by an outside expert at the Pentagon's request found that too little was being done to discipline lawbreakers in uniform or even identify problem recruits.

    A 1998 study estimated that one-third of military recruits had arrest records. A 1995 report found that one out of four Army career enlisted personnel had committed one or more criminal offenses while on active duty. Yet many were allowed to reenlist or received promotions. Some received good-conduct medals or held top secret security clearances, the research found.

    The 1995 study cited the case of one soldier who was promoted to sergeant despite a record of behavior that included multiple assaults, drunk and disorderly conduct, property destruction and obstruction of justice.

    As recently as last year, only a month before some of the worst abuses of Iraqi detainees occurred at Abu Ghraib prison, one of the reports said some troops were in positions "where destructive acts could have the most serious consequences."

    "An immediate problem faced by Defense is that there are military personnel with pre-service and in-service records that clearly establish a pattern of substandard behavior," the 2003 report said.

    "These individuals constitute a high-risk group for destructive behavior and need to be identified."

for the entire article go to : http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_070204C.shtml

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Liberty and Justice for ALL
Celebrate Hypocrisy This Independence Day
By Brent Brumley

" Instead, this 4th of July focus on hypocrisy should center on the military. On Tuesday, it was reported the Army is preparing to notify about 5,600 retired and discharged soldiers who are not members of the National Guard or Reserve that they will be involuntarily recalled to active duty for possible service in Iraq or Afghanistan. That number of soon-to-be draftees, intended to help alleviate the continued shortage of troops available to fight the war on terror, is almost exactly half the number of soldiers discharged in the last decade for being lesbian or gay.

The hypocrisy of who will and will not serve in the military is as appalling as it is widespread. In June, newly-available data collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center and obtained by the Center for the Study for Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM), a research unit of the University of California, Santa Barbara provided fresh details about many of the 9,682 service members discharged for homosexuality under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

According to the data, the military discharged gays and lesbians serving in 161 different occupational specialties between 1998-2003, including 49 nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare specialists, 90 nuclear power engineers, 52 missile guidance and control operators, 150 rocket, missile and other artillery specialists, and 340 infantrymen.

With regard to foreign language specialists, the military discharged 73 service members from the Presidio of Monterey, home of the Defense Language Institute, and 15 specialists in language interrogation, for an apparent total of 88 linguists between 1998-2003. The new data reveals a much higher loss of language expertise than previously known. In November 2002, seven Arabic linguists were reported to have been discharged for homosexuality and in December 2003 it was found that 37 linguists had been discharged for homosexuality in the previous two years.

The newly-released data also show that gay and lesbian service members have been discharged from 241 different American military bases and posts located throughout the world, from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to Camp Butler in Okinawa, to Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu in Korea, to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

According to Aaron Belkin, CSSMM Director, “the new data suggest that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has undermined every area of the military. We have lost valuable talent from almost every base and every occupational specialty, including mission-critical linguists and infantry men.” "

source: http://www.txtriangle.com/archive/1239/coverstory.htm
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Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Royal Navy Recruiting Gays -- GannonGuckert To Sign Up?
by Michael in New York - 2/22/2005 10:06:00 PM
The US military continues to spend millions of dollars a year training gay and lesbian soldiers and then millions more to witchhunt these brave Americans and kick them out. It's damaging national security, damaging our ability to project power around the world and -- given the absurd blackballing of queer specialists in Arabic languages -- could well stop us from preventing the next 9-11.
To prove how far behind we are, look at the British military: like almost every other Western democracy -- including Canada and Israel -- they've stopped attacking soldiers who want to serve their country but happen to be gay. Now they're going a step further, with the Royal Navy set to actively recruit gays.
So if JamesJeff GuckertGannon is looking to make a career switch, why not try the Royal Navy? Sure, he'd have to buy another military uniform, but Guckert can always find other uses for it.

source: http://www.americablog.org/