Don't Go, Don't Kill - Sheehan on DADT's repeal

[TC]

Don't Go, Don't Kill!

By Cindy Sheehan, Open Mike Blog
26 December 10

http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-T.jpghe recent repeal of the US military policy of "Don't ask, don't tell" is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanizing two populations as well as numerous other victims of it's clandestine "security" policies.


Placing this major contention aside, the enactment of the bill might be an institutional step forward in the fight for "equality"; however institutions rarely reflect reality.


Do we really think that the US congress vote to repeal the act and Obama signing the bill is going to stop the current systemic harassment of gays in the military?


While I am a staunch advocate for equality of marriage and same-sex partnership, I cannot - as a peace activist - rejoice in the fact that now homosexuals can openly serve next to heterosexuals in one of the least socially responsible organizations that currently exists on earth: The US military.


It is an organization tainted with a history of intolerance towards anyone who isn't a Caucasian male from the Mid-West. Even then I'm sure plenty fitting that description have faced the terror and torment enshrined into an institution that transforms the pride and enthusiasm of youth into a narrow zeal for dominating power relations.

Wrong Battle for Equality


It is hard to separate this issue from the activities of the military. War might be a "racket", but it is also the most devastating act one can be involved in, whether you are the aggressor or a victimized civilian, no one can shake off the psychological scars of war. No one.
Its effects on the individual as well as collective human psyche are terminal. Championing equal rights is an issue of morality, war is immoral, and the US military is heading further and further down the path of immorality.


Even with the advent of WikiLeaks, transparency and accountability of US military activity has been sucked into a black hole of silence. Drone attacks, illegal cross-border interventions, extra-judicial assassinations all occur in the name of national interest. It is not in the interest of equal rights activists to support an institution that is intent on ignoring every protocol of human decency.
Face it, gays are now and have been in the military since before Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.
The only difference being one can now admit their orientation without fear of official recrimination - a major boon for the equal rights movement! The capacity for increased carnage should not be celebrated as a victory!


I cannot help but think about those that are on the receiving end of US military aggression. So a minor change has occurred at the input juncture of the war machine, but the output remains the same: we dismantle systems of indigenous governance, support disingenuous often criminal overlords, commit endless acts of brutality, and worst of all leave entire nations rudderless, spiraling downwards into the same abyss that engulfs the US military's lack of accountability.


I wonder what the response towards don't ask, don't will be overseas? I wonder if mothers across the Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan are cheering the repeal of the act (most likely not), gathering in the streets to celebrate a victory in the global pursuit of human equality, only to be forced to take cover as yet another hellfire-laden drone appears on the horizon. Hell hath no fury, as a drone operated from somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Don't equal human rights extend to those that the Empire has mislabeled as the "enemy"? Or do we now have to ignore the fact that innocent people are being slaughtered by the thousands?

Unjust Binaries


We live in a world governed by binaries, straight or gay, them or us, freedom or tyranny. Until we break away from this norm, we shall forever be shackled to a narrow existence, manipulated by a political establishment that serves its own interests.


We should embrace complication, appreciate difference and most of all not be duped into accepting "victories" that clearly benefit an elite, that you and me (pardon the binary) will never be part of.


Some of us in the peace movement work really hard to keep our young people out of the hands of the war machine that preys on disadvantaged young people in inner cities and poor rural settings.
To see a demographic that is (without appearing to stereotypes) traditionally better educated, more politically progressive, and economically advantaged fight to join this killing machine is very disheartening.


I can see how one could view the repeal as a step forward, framed in the context dictated by the political elites of the Washington beltway. I can imagine much displeasure amongst the military brass – but I cannot reiterate enough how this is not a progressive moment in the social history of the United States.


The US military is not a human rights organization and nowhere near a healthy place to earn a living or raise a family. My email box is filled with stories of mostly straight soldiers and their families who were deeply harmed by life in the military.


Because of the callous and violent nature of the system, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is on the rise and suicide rates among veterans and the spouses of active duty soldiers are skyrocketing.


Veterans still find it very difficult to access the services, benefits and bonuses that were promised to them by their recruiters. I cannot imagine the repealing of DADT significantly improving the material conditions experienced by gays during military service.


While the children of war profiteers and politicians are protected from any kind of sacrifice, this Empire preys on the rest of our youth - gay/straight; male/female - and spits their mangled or dead bodies onto the dung heap of history, without a qualm or a twinge of conscience.


Joining the US military should never be an option for the socially conscious while our troops are being used as corporate tools for profit, or hired assassins for imperial expansion. Soldiers are called: "Bullet sponges," by their superiors and "dumb animals" by Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state.


While soldiers are dehumanized and treated like dirt, they are taught to dehumanize "the other", and treat them as less than dirt. It is a vicious cycle, and the way to stop a vicious cycle is to denounce and reject it, not openly participate.


I want to bang my head against a wall when another young gay person commits suicide as a result of despicable bullying, yet people within the same community have fought hard for the right to openly join the biggest bully ever! Don't go, don't kill!

Cindy Sheehan's oldest child Casey was killed in Iraq on April 4th, 2004. Since then she has been on a mission to end the wars and hold George W. Bush accountable.
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http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/267-33/4389-dont-go-dont-kill\

[Lacrimi de Chiciură]

It is an organization tainted with a history of intolerance towards anyone who isn't a Caucasian male from the Mid-West. Even then I'm sure plenty fitting that description have faced the terror and torment enshrined into an institution that transforms the pride and enthusiasm of youth into a narrow zeal for dominating power relations.

Aren't most military officers from the South? I like Cindy Sheehan but seriously I don't get what was the point of injecting this regionalism into the article.

[TC]

Aren't most military officers from the South? I like Cindy Sheehan but seriously I don't get what was the point of injecting this regionalism into the article.

I don't know about officers but the ultra rightwing heritage foundation analysis is that the south is disproportionately represented among enlisted personal (you can google this - i'm not giving them an incoming link). Anyways Sheehan has the personal experience of someone in a military family she probably experienced mid-westerners as culturally dominant (and if you think about every army film, they certainly form the stereotype of an officer, a drill sergent, etc) - I also think that eastern southerners may face some negative cultural stereotypes due to their accent whereas midwestern accents are often interpreted as "neutral" to American ears.

[Queercommie Girl]

"Don't Go, Don't Kill" is not enough, it's too passive.

Ideally US soldiers should rebel against capitalism and help to plant the Red flag on every corner of the globe.

Genuine revolutionaries need an aggressive and expansionist streak, rather than just being pacifists.

If one does not actively fight against "evil" and reaction, but merely refrains from joining it, how can reaction ever be stopped?

Forgiveness to one's enemies is often betrayal of one's allies and friends.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I think another aspect of this is that repealing don't ask don't tell is an attack on homophobia more that it's a "welcoming of gays into the military". The fact is, there are LGBT people ALREADY in the military. What would this line of reasoning mean for the left during something like the Dreyfus Affair? According to this logic, the left should have let a Jewish OFFICER in the French military get railroaded because of antisemitism. Sure he was a member of an oppressed group in the empire, but hey, one less Officer cog in the French machine... oh wait, the military cogs are relatively easy to replace.

Maybe a better historical analogy: if this were Vietnam, should we be supporting protests of black GIs for equal treatment inside the military? Why should we fight for black agents of US imperialism to be more comfortable in the army or for grunts to have the right to wear their hair the way they want to or listen to rock and soul music in their barracks?

Put crudely, by fighting against discrimination inside the military, we can do what the military fears equal rights or relaxation of long-standing regulations will do: cause insubordination and erode discipline.

It isn't an accident that racism, sexism, and homophobia are rampant in the military - it comes straight from the top and is used to stress conformity and obedience and to dehumanize people. If enlisted grunts are butting up against this orchestrated conformity or repression, then helping them fight against it is a small step in helping people to learn to organize themselves and challenge orders and authority.

I think the civil rights movement fed black organized disobedience in the military in Vietnam and this helped spread resistance more generally inside the military. These conflicts also helped to spread black and radical consciousness among all drafted and enlisted grunts which then fed back into the domestic scene as they got rotated back. I've read that the US military had to stop flying out "fresh meet" to the same bases they brought people back from Vietnam to because the vets were telling the new soldiers what the real deal was and how to cover their asses and resist their officers.

We're nowhere near these levels, but I think we need to count this repeal of a fucked-up blatantly anti-gay regulation as a small step forward and a small victory of accumulated social pressure and increased protests around gay rights. Movements are supposed to make our leaders feel the heat enough that they feel compelled to go against their ruling interests and throw us a reform. And while this is a small one, it's one we can point to and show people: if a disorganized movement can get the most ridged and macho/homophobic fucking institution in the empire to flinch... think what can happen when we begin organizing like they did in the 60s or 30s.