Tag Archives: Topic: Military

The Religion Clause Blog reports on this article in the NY Times: “. . . Muslims in the service face suspicion by some of their officers. Muslim soldiers are concerned about killing fellow Muslims in fighting and they hear condemnations of such killing in their mosques when they return from service . . . ”

William McGurn writes at the Wall Street Journal: “Most Americans, however, might be hard-pressed to guess another Harvard distinction: the highest number of Medal of Honor recipients outside the service academies. . . . In particular, this means the Reserve Officer Training Corps. ROTC was chucked off campus at the height of the Vietnam War and remains officially unrecognized today. The university says the 1993 law that prevents openly gay men and women from serving in the military conflicts with its own code.”

“Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama’s pledge to end the ban on gays in the military . . . ”

How Appealing links to the ruling Watson v. Geren, No. 07-2563 (2nd Cir. Oct. 30, 2009)

Religion Clause Blog: “In different parts of the world this week, courts were examining the question of conscientious objector exemptions from military service . . . ”

Google News (AP): “A new law meant to protect the voting rights of deployed troops and other Americans overseas is forcing at least a dozen states to consider holding their primaries earlier or to negotiate another plan that federal officials will accept.”

AP: “Trumpeting a victory against careless spending, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that kills some costly weapons projects and expands war efforts. In a major civil rights change, the law also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation.”

“Essay contest winner Om Prakash is entitled to his opinions, but his JFQ article showed little evidence of serious research beyond the usual polemics produced by the California-based Michael D. Palm Center and other homosexualist groups . . . ”

CNSNews: “Claims that the U.S. military’s policy of discharging openly homosexual soldiers threatens national security by reducing troop numbers are not supported by data from the Defense Department, according to the Center for Military Readiness (CMR).”

Washington Post: “But many Afghans, he [Matthew Hoh] wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there — a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.”

Stars & Stripes: “A panel of legal scholars has suggested that Congress remove sodomy as a crime punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a recommendation that could boost efforts to end a ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military.”

The YOUTube video is posted here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoRZHuPvBhY&feature=player_embedded

“Since 1993, females have received 61 percent of total Air Force DADT-related discharges . . . ”

Robert Knight writes at Townhall: “In addressing the current effort to lift the ban [on homosexual conduct] , Congress needs to weigh the overall effect this could have on servicemen and women. A Military Officers Association of America survey ignored by the media shows 68 percent of respondents, including current and former service personnel, support either the current policy or a stronger one.”

Palm Center: “Proponents of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ often point to the sodomy ban as justification for excluding gay and lesbian service members.”

Politico: “The appointment of retired Marine General Clifford Stanley as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is being hailed by a key group that represents gay soldiers as a major advance toward repeal — suggesting the White House is moving closer to backing legislation that would reverse the measure.”

“‘I will end ‘don’t ask-don’t tell,’ Obama said Saturday night to a standing ovation from the crowd of about 3,000 at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign.”

WJZ 13: “An HIV-positive sailor who had consensual unprotected sex with two women has been sentenced to three months’ confinement.”

Google News (AP): “President Barack Obama will focus ‘at the right time” on how to overturn the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban on gays serving openly in the military, his national security adviser said Sunday. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be — it’s not years, but I think it will be teed up appropriately,’ James Jones said.”

Retired Army Brigadier General Israel Drazin writes at the LA Times: “Even as a war memorial, the Mojave cross only serves to undermine the sacrifices of soldiers of other faiths.”

Yahoo News: “By openly declaring their views on the Afghan war, US military leaders have placed President Barack Obama in a bind as he faces a fraught decision over the troubled US-led mission.”

Dallas Morning News: “Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he wants Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, to “stop asking Jesus to plunder my fields … seize my assets, kill me and my family then wipe away our descendants for 10 generations.’ . . . Weinstein said he also hopes to cripple the Chaplaincy financially and to have the organization stripped of its status with the Department of Defense.”

Hat tip: Religion Clause Blog

NY Times Blog: ‘The Battle of DADT is over, and the mopping-up operations are ready to begin.’ That’s Mark Kleiman’s assessment of the effort to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Clinton-era law that ‘requires homosexuals in the services to keep their sexual orientation secret.’ What prompted Kleiman’s assertion is a new essay — ‘The Efficacy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ — in a military journal.”

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to hear from the Obama administration on how to overturn the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban on gays serving openly in the military.”

“Based on this research, it is not time for the administration to reexamine the issue; rather, it is time for the administration to examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.”

Virginian-Pilot: “Debates over allowing gay men and women to serve in the military quickly get complicated. That’s because there are two seemingly contradictory regulations governing gay military service: the policy known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and the federal law declaring homosexuality incompatible with military service.”

AP: “A federal appeals court has ruled that members of the military can be required to be vaccinated against anthrax.”

Rempfer v. Sharpstein, No. 08-5117 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 29, 2009)

CWA on the Christian Newswire: “Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization, is disappointed in recent statements by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus indicating their wish to lift the ban on women serving aboard submarines.”

S. Florida Blade, a publication that advocates homosexual behavior reports: “Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) said he expects the House to hold hearings on a bill to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in winter or spring of 2010.”

The Hill: “Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) won a promise from Adm. Mike Mullen that he would provide his take on the repeal of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ before the Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing this fall.”

Associated Press: “Conflicting Supreme Court rulings on homosexual rights make it difficult to predict whether any new laws protecting gays who want to serve openly in the military would be upheld, a congressional report concludes.”

Homosexuals and the U.S. Military: Current Issues
Congressional Research Service, David F. Burrelli and Jody Feder, 7.22.2009

AP: “Australia may allow female soldiers to serve in front-line combat roles under proposed equal-opportunity guidelines that stoked debate Wednesday on whether women can meet the physical demands . . . ”

“Without God there could be no American form of government nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first the most basic expression of Americanism.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Desert Sun: “The California Senate today endorsed a resolution calling on the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ the Pentagon policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving in the armed forces.”

S. Michael Craven writes at the Center for Christ and Culture: “The day I have long dreaded has finally arrived. My oldest and only son, Tyler, left for the Marine Corps this morning . . . Both Britain and Australia are confronted with ‘Laddism’: Lads are simply Guys with British accents, consuming the same media, engaging in the same sorts of behaviors, and lubricating their activities with the same alcohol. In Italy, they’re called mammonis, or mama’s boys. In Italy ‘a whopping 82 percent of men aged 18–30 are still living at home with their parents’ (Mark Penn, Microtrends, [New York, NY: Hachette Book Group, 2007], 324).”

Huffington Post: “In an interview with the Huffington Post, Rep. Patrick Murphy, (D-Pa.), said he was confident that a repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ would pass through Congress and make it the president’s desk in months.”

Jennifer Vanasco writes at 365Gay.com: “‘I hated what happened,’ Clinton said about DADT . . . But he said that gays and lesbians didn’t deliver the Congressional support his administration needed to allow gays and lesbians to openly serve. . . . As for DOMA, Clinton said it was necessary to head off the possibility of Congress passing a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage.”

AP: ” A rural North Carolina school district with a proud military tradition has surrendered to a Quaker peace activist’s request for access to high school students so she can warn them about joining the military, attorneys said Wednesday.”

U.S. News and World Report: “In a conversation with U.S. News, Solmonese explains why he still trusts Obama, why he believes ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will be reversed next year, and why he doesn’t buy the president’s stated opposition to gay marriage.”

CNN: “The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.”

JournalStar.com: “The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska wants to make sure parents know they can keep their high school students’ records from military recruiters – if they wish.”

Human Events: “Murphy has replaced former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) as the new lead sponsor of H.R. 1283, a bill that would repeal the 1993 law stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. That law, Section 654, Title 10, frequently is mislabeled ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Murphy’s bill would replace the 1993 statute with a new law forbidding discrimination in the military ‘based on homosexuality or bisexuality, whether the orientation is real or perceived.’”

Penna Dexter writes at Baptist Press: “President Obama has asked Congress to pass, and send to his desk, H.R.1283, which would allow open homosexuality in the military. But there’s a reason Congress has not taken this up . . . ”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “[John M.] McHugh, who currently represents New York’s 23rd District in the House of Representatives, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be the Secretary of the Army. His confirmation hearing is tomorrow. Americans United says McHugh has a troubling record when it comes to separation of church and state.”

Washington Post: “A Washington state Quaker filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, alleging that the U.S. government is discriminating against him because it will not recognize his status as a conscientious objector on military draft forms.”

Liberty Counsel: “The Navy has announced new Community Guidelines, removing its restrictions on religious speech on its Navy for Moms website. This change is in response to a letter Liberty Counsel sent to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, demanding an end to religious discrimination and reinstatement of users’ free speech rights on the website . . . ”

San Francisco Chronicle: “A Senate panel, after prodding by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, will examine the future of the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy governing gays in the military.”

CNN: “A key U.S. Senate committee will hold a hearing on the military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat.”

AP: “The Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sent a letter to Nebraska schools regarding military recruiting.”

Washington Blade: “The U.S. Air Force Academy has a gay member on its Board of Visitors. Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis was named to the board Wednesday.”

LifeSiteNews: “Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said Monday he would introduce S.909 as a bipartisan amendment to the defense authorization measure, thereby easing passage of the hotly debated bill.”

Halimah Abdullah reports in the Miami Herald: “‘I’ve watched the defense authorization bill move its way through Congress and occasionally, including at other times, I’ve seen amendments put on the bills which are non-germane,’ McCain said on the Senate floor. ‘But I haven’t seen the majority leader of the Senate, whose responsibility is to move legislation through the Senate, take a totally non-relevant, all-encompassing controversial piece of legislation and put it on a bill that is as important to the nation’s security as this legislation is.’”

Carl Hulse reports at the New York Times Politics and Government Blog: “With a possible fight brewing in Congress over repeal of the Pentagon’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on gays in the military, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, came down on Tuesday solidly in favor of eliminating the ban.”

“Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand [NY] . . . may introduce an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill tomorrow to put an 18-month moratorium on dismissing gay service members . . . ”

Associated Press: “With such polarized views as a backdrop, Associated Press reporters took an in-depth look at how the militaries of Israel, Britain and Australia have managed with serve-openly policies, and interviewed partisans on both sides of the debate in the United States about the relevance of those experiences.”

Lawrence J. Korb, Sean E. Duggan and Laura Conley write at the Christian Science Monitor: “The policy that keeps gays from serving openly undermines military readiness and does not make sense practically, financially, or morally. So what is holding the administration back?”

Reuters: “American attitudes have changed and the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy toward gays serving in the U.S. military should be reviewed, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell said on Sunday.”

CNSNews: “Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday he wants to make the law prohibiting gays from serving openly in the armed forces ‘more humane’ until Congress eventually repeals it. He said he has lawyers studying ways the law might be selectively enforced.”

Matt Barber writes at One News Now: “In general court-martial orders dated March 14, 1778, Washington, through his designs, addressed the disposition of a homosexual soldier ‘tried for attempting to commit sodomy’: ‘[We] do sentence him to be dismiss’d [from] the service with infamy. His Excellency the Commander in Chief approves the sentence and with abhorrence and detestation of such infamous crimes orders Lieutt. Enslin to be drummed out of camp tomorrow morning by all the drummers and fifers in the Army never to return.’”

AP: “I hope you don’t doubt the president’s commitment,” Biden said during a 20-minute address at the gathering. Assuring donors and other guests that Obama would keep the nation focused on “the unfinished business of true equality for all our people,” the vice president said, “I don’t blame you for your impatience.”

Human Rights Campaign reports: “Yesterday the San Diego City Council voted 7-0 to approve a resolution urging passage of a repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.”

Stars and Stripes: “One of the most culturally contentious issues in the U.S. military — the 16-year-old law requiring gay and lesbian members of the armed services to keep their sexual preferences hidden — briefly seemed like it was back on the table last week.”

Liberty Counsel: “On June 22, 2009, Liberty Counsel asked Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to stop religious discrimination and reinstate users’ free speech rights on the Navy for Moms Website.”

Washington Times: “President Obama is considering nominating an openly gay man to a top civilian Pentagon post as he seeks to temper growing criticism from gay rights advocates that he has not been bold enough on their issues.”

“Witt V. Department of the Air Force centers on the appropriate standard of review to apply when the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy infringes on the liberty of homosexuals.”

AP: “While they tend to the spiritual needs of their co-religionists in the ranks, as other chaplains do, these imams also spend much time explaining their religion and its practices to their non-Muslim superiors.”

Gallup: “Americans are six percentage points more likely than they were four years ago to favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military, 69% to 63% . . . ”

“The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration.”

Leonard Link: “Now there is a new court martial appeals decision that shows them taking an end-run around Lawrence and Marcum, U.S. v. Harvey, 2009 WL 1508376 (Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, April 9, 2009). For some reason, they’ve …

“In doing so, the administration appears to be learning from the experiences of the Clinton administration, which engaged in divisive intra-party battles over trade and gays in the military as it fought unsuccessfully for healthcare reform.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

The Hill: “Gay-rights activists are pressing the White House to align Pentagon leaders with President Obama’s goal to repeal a controversial ban on gays serving openly in the military . . . Supporters of the repeal in recent days have pointed out that Obama’s senior military team has not been in line with the president’s decision to overturn the policy known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

LA Times: “Although organizers called the event a ‘welcome’ for Obama, many in the crowd of 200 expressed anger that the president has not moved to repeal the federal defense of marriage act and the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy toward gay service member

World Magazine: Peter Eliasberg, counsel for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, says that people defending the memorial are actually denying the cross’ true meaning: “Don’t pretend it’s just a burial marker. It has a meaning.”

“And last weekend, a diverse group of gay activists, bloggers, Democratic Party organizers and fundraisers from across the country came together in Dallas to discuss how to more aggressively advance their agenda.”