Gen. James Amos, the new commandant of the Marine Corps, has declared that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” should not be overturned at this time. Gen. Amos points out that the Marine Corp is exempt from the Defense Department’s rule that troops are to have private living quarters except during basic training and at officer candidate schools. The Marines put two people in every room to promote a sense of unity.
Gen. Amos thus believes that “there’s risk involved” for the Marines in ending “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He adds that he is “trying to determine how to measure that risk.”
In a better world, Gen. Amos would not feel compelled somehow to measure the risk. In this context, any appreciable risk to the fighting capacity of the Marine Corps is too much. The purpose of the Marines is to fight America’s enemies. It is no part of their purpose to facilitate the self-actualization of gays.
Or, as Gen. Amos puts it, “this is not a social thing, this is combat effectiveness.”
-
“Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.” Winston Churchill
“Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” Inscription on the Liberty Bell
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.