Lost in Translation

[stevekenson]

Interesting op-ed piece from Stephen Benjamin, former Navy Arabic translator discharged under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, along with dozens of other qualified Arabic linguists... not that such men and women are at all needed in the military at this time. The key points:

“Consider: more than 58 Arabic linguists have been kicked out since “don’t ask, don’t tell” was instituted. How much valuable intelligence could those men and women be providing today to troops in harm’s way?”

“As the friends I once served with head off to 15-month deployments, I regret I’m not there to lessen their burden and to serve my country. I’m trained to fight, I speak Arabic and I’m willing to serve. No recruiter needs to make a persuasive argument to sign me up. I’m ready, and I’m waiting.”

How does this fail to be considered “not supporting our troops” while any talk of actually bringing them home or providing them the support they need is “defeatist” and “weakening morale”? Maybe the President believes God will provide translation, speaking in tongues style...

Comments

[joannahurley.livejournal.com]

You might find this a bit...ironic: http://volokh.com/posts/1181760942.shtml . *Bob Barr* saying conservatives should drop Don't Ask, Don't tell. I'm a bit boggled (he's still a jerk on plenty of other things, it seems, though...)

[xomec.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen that, pretty amazing. Of course, the difference between "true conservative" and "compassionate" Bushie theocon is quite a span.

[athanasios.livejournal.com]

When I was in the Navy I had two friends who were gay, one of them kept it a secret and the other outed himself and (with the help of a good attorney) got out with an honorable discharge. Both of these sailors were good at what they did (we were photographers mates), and it upsets me greatly that the military refuses people based on sexual preference. Seems as if citizenship means little anymore!