Witchhunts?

Witchhunts. Sounds like a page out of (biased) American history books, no? Bleu Copas, a former Arabic translator in the United States armed forces, did his part to comply with Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But that wasn't good enough for some. Some conducted investigation after investigation after investigation, and kicked him out.

Did you know that since its inception in 1993, between 11,000 and 12,000 service members have been discharged from the armed forces under Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Some are doctors, mechanics, Korean translators, Arabic translators, and of various other support occupations. Among them are 55 Arabic linguists which I've briefly blogged about once before.

Imagine the cost to recruit, train, and deploy troops. Then ooh, ahh: the military finds they may or may not be homosexual. If they don't out themselves, perhaps an investigation -- or shall we say, witchhunt -- begins. With the inevitable outcome of termination in the horizon.

Tax dollars at work!

HDNet World Report did an effective job at exposing our military leaders' beliefs about sexual orientation and irrational fear of homosexuality. It would've been mighty interesting if an interview with the military chiefs would have been possible. Instead, however, they get a written response which included:

The law establishes the basis for separation from the armed forces as conduct not orientation. Our policy reflects the law, i.e., no military member is discharged due to his or her sexual orientation.