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CHECK US OUT AT: http://delawareliberal.wordpress.com/Thursday, July 27, 2006
Ladies and Gentleman, I give you your GOP at war...
Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist;
Decorated sergeant ‘outed’ by anonymous e-mail never admitted to charges
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, though he says he never admitted being gay and his accuser was never identified.
Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was “outed” by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
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My Email to Michael Castle's press secretary:
Mrs. Wenk,
Good Morning! Yesterday I wrote you asking for Mr. Castle's comments on whether or not he regrets having supported George Bush in his pursuit of the Presidency.
I am eager waiting for your response, but the meantime another example of Mr. Bush's incompetent management of the war has made the news and I would like you to include Mr. Castle's reaction to this instance as well.
MSNBC is reporting that a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, even though he says he never admitted being gay and his accuser was never identified.
Does Mr. Castle feel that this is a rational way to prosecute a war in which Arab language specialists are at a premium. Does this instance make him more or less likely to apologize to Delawareans for serving as Mr. Bush's campaign chairman here in Delaware?
Thanks you in advance for your prompt response to this request.
Jason
Delawareliberal
cc: Kailtin Hoffman
Decorated sergeant ‘outed’ by anonymous e-mail never admitted to charges
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, though he says he never admitted being gay and his accuser was never identified.
Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was “outed” by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
------------------
My Email to Michael Castle's press secretary:
Mrs. Wenk,
Good Morning! Yesterday I wrote you asking for Mr. Castle's comments on whether or not he regrets having supported George Bush in his pursuit of the Presidency.
I am eager waiting for your response, but the meantime another example of Mr. Bush's incompetent management of the war has made the news and I would like you to include Mr. Castle's reaction to this instance as well.
MSNBC is reporting that a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, even though he says he never admitted being gay and his accuser was never identified.
Does Mr. Castle feel that this is a rational way to prosecute a war in which Arab language specialists are at a premium. Does this instance make him more or less likely to apologize to Delawareans for serving as Mr. Bush's campaign chairman here in Delaware?
Thanks you in advance for your prompt response to this request.
Jason
Delawareliberal
cc: Kailtin Hoffman
posted by jason # 9:57 AM 
Comments:
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We'll never learn. I'm convinced we're our own worst enemy. This Don't Ask, Don't Tell shit (ESPECIALLY for the Arabic linguists) needs to be gone.
# posted by 
: 10:20 AM
: 10:20 AM
Blame Congress. The US military takes direction from them. Democrats held the majority for decades and didn't change the rules. Not one Democrat has sponsored a bill to end the policy.
Duffy -
I do blame Congress - hence the email to Castle's flunky.
But, this is a case where the military is not following the rules - they are following the President.
Read the link.
I do blame Congress - hence the email to Castle's flunky.
But, this is a case where the military is not following the rules - they are following the President.
Read the link.
Hmm...this is a sticky one. I don't know the specifics of the law and I'm quite certain it isn't as cut and dry as the "don't ask, don't tell" description makes it seem. He's in a senstive post as well which may mitigate the rules.
I was also surprised that he was allowed to decline to answer as UCMJ has no rule against self incrmination.
That said, dismissing someone b/c they're gay is stupid and short sighted. I really hope there's a better reason he was kicked.
I was also surprised that he was allowed to decline to answer as UCMJ has no rule against self incrmination.
That said, dismissing someone b/c they're gay is stupid and short sighted. I really hope there's a better reason he was kicked.
I was discussing this news with some of my co-workers. I can't believe that we seriously give a crap about a person's sexual orientation when it comes to fighting a war (albeit a misdirected one). Anyone who's actually willing to fight or take part in this war should be allowed to - gay or not. I still don't understand why it matters if you are out of the closet or not - this is the 21st century people, wake up! And after having read the full article, I can't believe they are using the fact that he's supposedly had relationships with other gay men as a reason/proof to discharge him either. So what, he's supposed to be celibate the entire time he's in the military? Do they expect that of heterosexual soldiers as well? Surely not... This is all such BS, and just shows how petty we can be in a time of war.
Okay, here comes some clarity.
This is not Don't Ask Don't Tell, but rather the application of a specific policy regarding Military Intelligence personnel with access to classified material. The article didn't specify his MOS, but my assumption is that Sgt. Copas was either an interrogator (97E) or a signals interceptor (98G) which was what I was, both of which require Top Secret security clearances.
Sgt. Copas had to undergo a rigorous screening process just to enlist in an MI field; the FBI asks your high school classmates if you smoked weed, or wore Che Guevarra t-shirts or whatever. They also ask you direct questions about the same stuff, not necessarily to disqualify you, but rather to ensure that there's nothing in your past that can be used to blackmail you or coerce you into helping the enemy. Being a closeted homosexual would definitely count as something that could be used as leverage by a Gitmo detainee who wanted to smuggle out information or orders to his buddies, for example.
Anyway, if anything like that comes out later that you concealed from the screeners, or you get caught by a drug test, you lose your clearance. You can't do your job without a clearance, so you lose that too.
This is not Don't Ask Don't Tell, but rather the application of a specific policy regarding Military Intelligence personnel with access to classified material. The article didn't specify his MOS, but my assumption is that Sgt. Copas was either an interrogator (97E) or a signals interceptor (98G) which was what I was, both of which require Top Secret security clearances.
Sgt. Copas had to undergo a rigorous screening process just to enlist in an MI field; the FBI asks your high school classmates if you smoked weed, or wore Che Guevarra t-shirts or whatever. They also ask you direct questions about the same stuff, not necessarily to disqualify you, but rather to ensure that there's nothing in your past that can be used to blackmail you or coerce you into helping the enemy. Being a closeted homosexual would definitely count as something that could be used as leverage by a Gitmo detainee who wanted to smuggle out information or orders to his buddies, for example.
Anyway, if anything like that comes out later that you concealed from the screeners, or you get caught by a drug test, you lose your clearance. You can't do your job without a clearance, so you lose that too.
# posted by : 11:06 AM
: 11:06 AM
Being a closeted gay can be used to blackmail you or coerce you into helping the enemy - which is why don;t ask don;t tell is moronic.
It is a cold war anachronism to think that being gay makes you a de factosecruity risk.
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It is a cold war anachronism to think that being gay makes you a de factosecruity risk.
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