02/06//10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Colonel Oliver North attacked the decision to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He decided that the decision by Secretary Robert Gates to not pursue third party reports turning in gay and lesbian service members, such as Colonel Victor Fahrenbach, was selective enforcement of the law despite the fact that the third part of the law requires that the military not pursue service member’s sexuality unless it came to light by their own admission. Colonel North continuously called the decision to repeal DADT wrong and said that President Barack Obama was treating the military like lab rats. He also attacked the decision based upon the nonsensical notion that this would add to the burden of American troops already fighting two wars. Many service members have reported that the distrust that comes from lying about one’s sexuality often does more harm to morale and camaraderie than a person being open about their sexuality.

Colonel North also, in an opinion piece, also went after the repeatedly debunked notion that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia, and even questioned where the repeal of DADT would lead. He posited that it would lead to the lifting of age of consent laws. Never mind that there is plenty of evidence that children below the current age of consent are unable to understand what sex involves, and are not able to consent to an act which is often flat out rape. The smearing of homosexuals by linking them to pedophiles is often linked to the fact that people are more often likely to talk about a boy being molested but a girl being raped. In psychological and criminal parlance, however, a child is molested if they are groped or touched, but raped if there is any form of penetration. Children cannot consent to the acts that are done to them, and molestation and rape often leads to severe mental trauma. What Colonel North is, basically, doing is comparing a forced sexual act to a consensual act of love.

It should not be surprising that Colonel North, who was forced from the Marines in disgrace, is busy defending a law which undermines the military simply because its repeal is being pushed by President Barack Obama. North, who is currently a contributor to FOX News, was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra Affair, and was charged and convicted for his part within that scandal. His conviction was later revoked due to the fact that Congress had given him limited immunity for his testimony and the witnesses may have been affected by that.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has force many soldiers out of the military at a time when recruiting is down, and causalities are high. More than two hundred gay and lesbian service members were kicked from the military in 2009, and that is in addition to the couple hundred soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and the numbers of soldiers who had to be discharged due to their wounds obtained in battle. By continuing to use the most vile of all the allegations regarding homosexuality to try and prevent the military from having enough soldiers to fight two wars, Colonel North showed his own bigotry. He also tried to cloak the idea within patriotic words by claiming that the American military is the best in the world. However, given that the majority of America’s NATO allies already have lifted their ban on gays and lesbians serving openly, one is left wondering which militaries are the best.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is, however, hoping to circumvent the need for an immediate repeal by cutting off all specific funding directed towards dismissing soldiers under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A move that would save the government millions of dollars and keep qualified and needed soldiers in the ranks.

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