Posted by Bel. The time is 11:06am here in Wellington, NZ.
One result of this is a slipping of standards. Official policy is that soldiers are not allowed to be members of racists groups, but this expose on Salon has a lengthy interview with a neo-Nazi who details his experiences, and many other examples. Internal reports have tracked the issue for years, but as a spokesperson for 'Iraq Veterans Against The War' states, "The military is attractive to white supremacists because the war itself is racist."
However, not all standards are slipping. The US military is sticking by its policy of firing anybody who dares to be openly gay. The most high profile example is that of Sargeant Darren Manzella, who served twice in Iraq (read more here and here at the Huffington Post for further dismissed soldiers and background on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy). As far as I am aware, if any other kind of company fired you because of your sexual preference, that would be TOTALLY ILLEGAL, but this is not the first time these guys have demonstrated they believe they are above the law.
This is the same army that George Bush pumped over $800 billion into with a final flurry. That's in US dollars, people.
The "base" defense budget, which excludes the expense of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has grown 40 percent since 2001 to an estimated $518.3 billion requested for fiscal year 2009. But this doesn't tell the whole story.
If you figure in other military expenditures, such as those incurred by the departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Veterans Affairs, and the numerous defense "supplemental" bills that the Bush administration has relied on to fund its foreign adventures, US defense spending stands at a staggering $863.7 billion.
This exceeds the collective annual defense spending of the world's militaries combined.
[Source: Mother Jones]
How much more is now going to be spent on law suits do you think? Oh well, only a fraction of a fraction I suppose.
Great. Just what we need, experienced hardline idiots who have been training by an uncaring military... where have I heard that before...
Oh yeah. Afghanistan.
Hey Lou, on a separate note, just stumbled over your blog.
Good reading. Enjoying it heaps.
Cheers,
Vidya
Of course they should ban gay men from joining the military - what if they are in the midst of gun fire and someone bends over to pick up a hand grenade/ more bullets and their gay colleague is overcome by sexual desires and takes them up the arse mid-warfare. That would be terrible! And so, sooo realistic... if you have bigoted and ill-developed cognitions and beliefs akin to a 14-year-old schoolboy who has been brought up by his parents to fear and suspect anybody who is or may be gay. Which is probably about level with the dipshits who come up with the US' military policy.
Hi Vidya!!!!!
I think the concern is that gays are not banned from joining the military - it's just that they must remain very firmly in the closet while serving their country.
Sergeant Manzella had been to Iraq twice and awarded a medal for service and so on - he was fired after speaking on 60 Minutes about, amongst other things, his sexuality.
Noteworthy tho, that fewer soldiers have been dismissed on these terms in recent years, as the US becomes more and more desperate to maintain numbers of troops... sigh...