[Vision2020] Morality Check

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Letters section of the March 26, 2007 edition of the Army Times -

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MORALITY CHECK

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace's comments
during his March 12 interview with the Chicago Tribune should not come as a
surprise to anyone. This type of extreme homophobia among some military
leaders has always been at the root of the military's discriminatory
policies against gays and lesbians.

However, I, as a gay veteran, no longer have to be lectured by military
leaders on the laws of morality. The military has much to account for with
respect to its own moral failings as an institution. And Gen. Pace must
accept the responsibility of reforming the military establishment to prevent
future moral failings. 

It is immoral to deny minorities, like gays and lesbians, equal protection
under the law and a level of freedom of speech commensurate with other
service members.

It is immoral to continue prosecuting an immoral war in Iraq, which was
started and continued with poor and sometimes false military intelligence.

It is immoral not to properly equip our troops for such a war.

It is immoral to institutionalize torture in our armed services as was done
in Abu Ghraib prison and in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

It is immoral not to provide appropriate long-term medical care to our
wounded veterans returning from combat duty - both gay and straight.

It is immoral to escalate the violence in Iraq in order to protect the
military's collective ego.

It is immoral to fund billions of dollars of contracts for reconstruction
projects in Iraq that have produced few improvements and to fail to take
responsibility for such fraud, waste and abuse.

It is immoral to continue to allow troop shortages and an unsustainable
operational tempo, which will undermine our military's long-term readiness,
while enforcing a policy that not only discriminates against gays and
lesbians but also prevents a significant number of potential recruits from
serving openly.

I no longer need lessons of morality from military leaders. I served on the
Honor Committee at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in the early
1990s, and I taught other cadets about honor and ethics.

I also served honorably - and in silence - for several years in the Army. I
am comfortable in my morality and am reaching a point of prayerful
self-acceptance with God's help, despite the bigotry and prejudice I
suffered in the military.

It is exactly because of this institutionalized prejudice and discrimination
that all freedom-loving Americans must stand up against "don't ask, don't
tell" and for the equal rights and protection under the law for all American
citizens - gay and straight.

Former Army Capt. Steve Thornton
Rockville, Md. 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.