"Hey, Sarge, what's this here Ben Laden guy tryin' to say?"

[Theophylact]

Army Linguists Say They Were Ousted
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14 — Nine Army linguists, including six trained in Arabic, have been dismissed from the military because they are gay, even as the military faces a critical shortage of translators and interpreters for the war on terrorism, gay rights advocates say.

Seven of the soldiers were discharged after telling superiors that they are gay; two others were caught together after curfew, said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that defends homosexuals in the military.

Six were specializing in Arabic, two were studying Korean and one was studying Mandarin Chinese. All were at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, the military's primary language training center.

Harvey Perritt, a spokesman for the Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe in Tidewater, Va., confirmed that the dismissals occurred from October 2001 to September 2002, but declined to comment further on the cases.

The government has aggressively recruited Arabic speakers since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Alastair Gamble, a former Army specialist who was among those dismissed, said that he and another linguist applied for other federal jobs where they could use their language skills in the war on terrorism, but neither was hired.

The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy allows gays to serve provided they keep quiet about their sexual orientation.

[J-Excel]

Army Intelligence should have recruited lesbians. From what I hear lesbians are cunning linguists.


har har har har har!

[Epidemic]

dohhhhh!

[J-Excel]

Can private companies legally fire homosexuals?

[no1_vern]

That sounds so typical. No matter how important the job, if your gay your out(no pun intended).


J-Excel-
NO, I think its illegal for any business to do that.

[Epidemic]

What did these fellars not understand about don't ask don't tell.

I will also say that don't ask don't tell is a pretty good idea for moral in the millitary. I have met many people who could not deal with it in the millitary and yet I feel they are great soldiers.

You would either have to kick out the gay soldier or kick out the hetero soldier because of the problems it would cause. I fancy the don't ask allows you to keep both of em. Assuming both to be good soldiers I think that is the best solution.

[J-Excel]

Are you sure about it being a good policy, Epidemic? It's a Clinton policy. The conservatives blasted it when it started.

[RADAR1797]

No the right policy is an upfront refusal to allow homosexuals to join the military. Clinton was all about half truths, skirting the rules, and ambiguous morality. As for a private company firing someone because they are homosexual, it depends on the state and the company. Small firms of under 25 (I believe this is still the case), can hire or fire any one for any reason. This is to protect small family owned businesses that want to remain family only. Most states do not recognize homosexuals as needing special privilege or protection and thus do not address the issue. Hence feel free to fire someone because they are homosexual in Texas. Unless it is in Austin, it will cause little concern.
As for don't ask don't tell, the policy is divergent with the core values of the military. The Air Force touts, "Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do." All of the service branches expose a similar motto of character, courage, competence. The policy violates the first tenet, but that is to be expected from a man who had a hard time telling the truth.
The military should stake one position or the other, not play both sides. My preference is to ban homosexuals from the military, but there are others who do not believe in baselines.

-RADAR