Lets Call the Whole Thing Off

President Obama recently said it was time to end the policy preventing gays from serving openly in the military. So the debate has started all over again but the reasonable arguments seem to be about the same.

This latest op-ed piece does a reasonable if not very thorough job of describing most of the major arguments. Merrill A. McPeak (Air Force Chief of Staff from 1990 to 1994) spends most time refuting arguments to change the policy. At the end he argues for keeping the policy in order to preserve unit cohesion, which seems to be the key argument for not allowing gays to serve openly.

This argument goes that there is nothing about being homosexual that makes men and women less competent in battle. But individual ability is less important that unit cohesion when it comes to combat effectiveness and staying safe. So, by refusing to remain closeted, gays are risking unit cohesion. This is because straight service men and women can’t bond and fight alongside homosexuals.

So, the current policy excludes a subset of soldiers because the brass feel the mainstream soldier is a homophobe. Effectively punishing gays because other men and women can’t hack them being gay. Don’t punish gays for the failings of others. Muster out those whose irrational hatreds and fears render them incapable of waging effective war alongside their fellow patriots.

-also-

Here is the only good reason I have heard for keeping the policy.