Could House Resolution (HR) 1283 end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy that has discriminated against gays by not allowing them to serve openly in the military? Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA) believes that it should and that it will. HR 1283, which is entitled the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009, would replace "the current policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces, referred to as `Don't Ask, Don't Tell', with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation." If passed HR 1283 would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (Section 654 of title 10, United States Code), however, it would not "require the furnishing of dependent benefits."
Congressman Murphy announced Wednesday that he is taking over the lead sponsorship of the bill, which was filed in March by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA). At the press conference, Murphy announced the launch of a nationwide tour "Voices of Honor," sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United
"My time in Iraq taught me that our military needs and deserves the best and the brightest who are willing to serve- and that means all Americans, regardless of their orientation. Discharging brave and talented service members from our armed forces is contrary to the values that our military fights for and that our nation holds dear."
(It's well past time that the military took sexual assault against its members seriously. - promoted by boadicea)
Camouflaging of sexual assault in the military and how the military ignores the culture of sexism.
In a recent hearing of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs Dr. Kaye Whitley, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SARPO), and Michael Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary for defense, were subpoenaed to testify but Dr. Whitley did not appear under direction of Dominguez. This is just the latest resistance from the Department of Defense in regards to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military.
Why military command experience does not translate into Commander-in-Chief judgment.
When running for public office few things lift a candidate's standing in public perception as military experience. This is not unique to Republicans or Democrats, both parties tout military veterans as experienced leaders. So, the question can be asked if military experience translates to being Command-in-Chief?
The absolute truth is that the United States military is the only employer in the United States that is allowed to openly discriminate based on sexual orientation. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a policy that needs to be changed, and the time for change is now.
(When someone tries to tell you McCain's plans won't mean a draft, you send 'em here to read from someone who knows. - promoted by boadicea)
Many independents and moderate republicans beat the 'elephant drum" and say there will be no draft to support the Iraq war. I say BULLSHIT.
WHY?
Base Realignment and Closure Acts (BRAC Acts)
Presidents Reagan signed into law four rounds of BRAC and President Bush signed into law one round of BRAC. This fact is important because these Republican laws are why our military strength is diminished. The strategy for our Department of Defense since the end of the Cold war was to fight a two theater strategy meaning we would maintain the combat strength to fight two wars in two different parts of the world at the same time. When I served in Desert Storm we had 16 Combat Divisions and support forces on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. We still had available, uncommitted, 5 Infantry Divisions:
7th Ft. Ord, California
10th Ft. Drum, New York
2nd Korea
6th Ft. Wainwright, Alaska
25th Hawaii
We actually could maintain a two-war strategy in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Join me on the flip for the very bad news Republicans will not talk about in the company of voters.
We have gone past the point where we are sewing them up and sending them back to the line. Now we drug them and send them out. Too numb to be sad anymore. This is going to haunt us all if we do not prepare for the eventual harvest of anger, depression and frustration.
I found this on Crooks and Liars earlier this morning and since I can't find a diary dealing with it I will put one up.
America's Medicated Army
Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008 By MARK THOMPSON
"The trickle of new drugs became a flood after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Details of America's medicated wars come from the mental-health surveys the Army has conducted each year since the war began. If the surveys are right, many U.S. soldiers experience a common but haunting mismatch in combat life: while nearly two-thirds of the soldiers surveyed in Iraq in 2006 knew someone who had been killed or wounded, fewer than 15% knew for certain that they had actually killed a member of the enemy in return. That imbalance between seeing the price of war up close and yet not feeling able to do much about it, the survey suggests, contributes to feelings of "intense fear, helplessness or horror" that plant the seeds of mental distress. "A friend was liquefied in the driver's position on a tank, and I saw everything," was a typical comment. Another: "A huge f______ bomb blew my friend's head off like 50 meters from me." Such indelible scenes - and wondering when and where the next one will happen - are driving thousands of soldiers to take antidepressants, military psychiatrists say. It's not hard to imagine why."
"And just as more troops are taking these drugs, there are new doubts about the drugs' effectiveness. A pair of recent reports from Rand and the federal Institute of Medicine (iom) raise doubts about just how much the new medicines can do to alleviate PTSD. The Rand study, released in April, says the "overall effects for SSRIs, even in the largest clinical trials, are modest." Last October the iom concluded, "The evidence is inadequate to determine the efficacy of SSRIs in the treatment of PTSD."
Chris LeJeune could have told them that. When he returned home in May 2004, he remained on clonazepam and other drugs. He became one of 300,000 Americans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and suffer from PTSD or depression. "But PTSD isn't fixed by taking pills - it's just numbed," he claims now. "And I felt like I was drugged all the time." So a year ago, he simply stopped taking them. "I just started trying to fight my demons myself," he says, with help from VA counseling. He laughs when asked how he's doing. "I'd like to think," he says, "that I'm really damn close back to normal."
Ok, it is three paragraphs, but the middle one is necessary. I hope that isn't too far over the line for the copyright lawyers.
The idea that this election is going to be about things as silly as lapel flag-pins or loose cannon preachers/pastors/priests is stupid. It is about this ongoing quagmire in Iraq. It is about 5.5% unemployment and 4 dollar gas. The economy and the war are going to be THE two issues and on those two the R's are in the weakest of positions. McCain can change his opinions daily if he wants, but the facts of his voting record are apparent. The voting records of Senators, Representatives and the actions of this present Administration are going to be paramount in this election. Throughout the history of our nation, of any nation, unpopular wars are damaging to the party in the Executive. No matter how the R's try to spin this election it is going to come back to the war and the economy.
I don't give a shit if Tom DeLay calls Obama a pinko commie bastard. That dog won't hunt anymore. The bottom line is that McCain is, was and will be for this damnable farce in Iraq and he cannot hide from it.
"They treat us like oranges. Squeeze the juice out of us and throw away the skin."
I can't remember who said that to me so many years back, but it still rings true today.
Facts like the medication of the military to keep them deployed is just another example of the sentiments of this Administration and those who gave us this war.
It will not be forgotten by the military families, the soldiers or the veterans when it comes time to vote. I hope it is not forgotten among the progressives. I doubt it will with people like Greg Mitchell reminding us of the hidden and overlooked human costs.
We come before you today with another of those giant stories.
In fact, this one is so large that to make it a bit more digestible we're going to break it down into smaller parts. Today's, obviously, is part one.
The issues we'll discuss will be an immediate concern of the next President, they impact upon our relationships with many of the world's nations, and they directly affect whether we will return to a nuclear arms race with Russia...and even more fundamentally, whether we will be a nation that embraces the "first use" of nuclear weapons while asking others to give them up.
And with that, I bid you welcome to the mostly uncharted territory of "Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons".
Those of you who are regular readers will know that I like to bring you stories that are not part of the conversation you might generally see at this site (or anywhere else, for that matter); and I have a good one for you today.
We will discuss a military "spy satellite" program that has great potential for use by other customers-including law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
A program, frankly, that has a huge "Big Brother" potential.
A program that may end up costing $150 billion of today's dollars-or more-over the next 25 years.
And with that introduction complete, let's talk about "Space Radar".
In a story in the LA Times this morning "Top general may propose pullbacks" Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel report that Petraeus may announce pullbacks from some areas in Iraq, including al Anbar province and a turnover of those ares to Iraqi forces.
I'm somewhat mystified by this process as it appears that, at the White House, they seem to know already, in other words, today, what they are going to report in September, in other words, a month from today. In fact it seems that they began writing their "field report" weeks ago... in the White House.
I'm not sure why exactly, but this somehow reminds me of reports I hear from teachers with experience in the "no child left behind" follies, who have described to me the specter of spending weeks and weeks of classroom time devoted to "teaching to the test" in order to maintain mandated academic ratings and the flow of federal funds. Taking the test is mostly a charade, passing the test, a foregone conclusion, an exercise in making things look good on paper.
In other words, as Junior might say every few seconds, in the case of Iraq they are writing a "report" which will contain recommendations that will allow us to draw conclusions, that were decided on in the White House more than a month ago.
Please help us get the word out by forwarding this message to your networks.
TRAINING WORKSHOP ON GI RIGHTS REGARDING DISCHARGE FROM MILITARY
Oklahoma City, April 20-22
On the weekend of April 20-22, the Oklahoma Committee for Conscientious Objectors is holding a training workshop for potential hotline volunteers and others who want to support the troops in a real, concrete way (full details in the press release below).
As you know, the rates of active duty military personnel seeking discharge is rising every day. You may not know that Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, is one of two main processing centers for discharges. So our area gets more than our share of active duty military seeking information and support. Our hotline was established to serve this urgent need.
Don't be shocked, but the military does not provide complete or accurate information to its troops as to under what circumstances discharge can be sought -- and obtained. That's where we -- and you -- come in!
Please consider taking this training and becoming familiar with issues of military law pertaining to types of discharges, the process of filing, courts martial, etc. The training will be conducted by very experienced lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force and will give a good overview of the regulations and requirements involved.
Our main purpose for the training is to put our hotline into full operation, with well-informred volunteers. But even if you don't think you have the time to staff the hotline, the training would be invaluable to you if you want to be able to talk to those in the military, their families, friends.
We also are inviting those from outside Oklahoma to attend the training, so you can provide a similar service in your community.
I spent 20 years working for the Army Medical Department. As we watch the Walter Reed saga unfold, maybe I can shed some light on the funding process and why the wonderful soldiers have been neglected - um, I mean, screwed.
The Department of Defense (DOD): Rummy logic prepares the annual budget and distributes money to the major commands; in this case the Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) located in San Antonio. MEDCOM then redistributes dollars to the many Army hospitals all over the world, including Walter Reed. We don't know yet, but my guess is that Walter Reed was not funded for the influx of wounded soldiers needing and deserving rehabilitation, physical therapy, prosthetics and counseling. Separate from rehab, funding was needed for construction and building repairs. These renovation dollars are funded separately from the basic annual budget, which is named Organizational & Maintenance (O&M). It is a violation of law to spend O&M dollars for renovations. I'm confident there were no dollars appropriated to upgrade the buildings the wounded soldiers were housed in. To say it simply in accounting terms, soldier rehab was an unfunded requirement.
It was bound to happen; the chickens will come home to roost. Recently three National Guardsmen shoot up a family carne asada (barbeque) while on a "beer-fueled" joy ride near Eagle Pass, TX.
The last time the US stationed troops along the Rio Grande, a Marine shot and killed a Texas teenager tending to his goats at his home. Back in 1997 when a US military unit called Joint Task Force Six or JTF 6 was asked to assist the Border Patrol in patrolling the borders for drug traffickers, a Marine shot and killed a Texas teenager within sight of his home. Two things resulted from that day - Esequiel Hernandez Jr. became the first civilian killed by US troops since the student massacre at Kent State University in 1970 and Cpl. Clemente Manuel Banuelos became the first US Marine to kill a fellow citizen on US soil.
On May 20, 1997, Esequiel Hernandez Jr. became the first civilian killed by U.S. troops since the student massacre at Kent State University in 1970. His death led to a temporary suspension of military patrols near the U.S.-Mexican border. And in August, the government paid his family $1.9 million to settle a wrongful death claim.
Cpl. Clemente Manuel Banuelos became the first U.S. Marine to kill a fellow citizen on U.S. soil. Four investigations and three grand juries probed the May 1997 shooting. Each concluded that because Banuelos followed orders, he was innocent of criminal wrongdoing. Those who issued the orders were never tried.
Several retired US Generals and military officers have condemned the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his handling of the Iraq war.
In blunt words, these career military men, who have combat experience and have led men to battle, warned that Rumsfeld must be removed to avoid another Vietnam-like catastrophe from unfolding in the Middle East.
I admit I have not paid as much attention to the issue of the National's Guards deployment as I should. But from what I have read, policymakers have some major issues to address. That makes this development promising.
The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves will conduct its first public hearing outside of Washington, D.C., next week on the changing role of the reserves in defending the country.
Commissioners will take testimony from both the leaders and individual enlisted members of the reserves on the current and future role of the National Guard and Reserves in national security, including homeland security. The meeting will take place in San Antonio.
