Challenger Choose

I had every intention of debating either side. However, I feel so strongly against DADT that I couldn't accept arguing for it with out some sort of disclaimer. That Being Said: Observation one is Inherenchy: DON'T ASK DON'T TELL IS AN APPROVED REGULTION IN THE U.S. MILLITARY Andrea Stone, USA TODAY 3/12/2007 The "don't ask, don't tell" policy allows lesbians and gay men to serve if they keep quiet about their sex lives. Commanders are barred from asking subordinates about their sexual orientation. DON'T ASK DON'T TELL IS A POLICY TO REDUCE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GAYS Karisha Prescott, Associated Content Jan 22, 2008 The DADT policy means that a homosexual service member may practice their desires...It also means...that they are not to be harassed, hazed, or witch hunted. --observation one underview: In the status quo Don't Ask Don't Tell is in place not to judge but to protect against the narrow minded view towards gays. Observation two is Advantages: Advantage One: Unity FIGHTING BATTALIONS SUCCEED BECAUSE OF THEIR SINGLE UNIT FIGHTING STYLE Yaakov Katz, the Jerusalem Post Aug 15, 2006 They hiked over 40 kilometers, killed close to 20 Hizbullah guerrillas and spent 32 days in Lebanon without a single casualty. But on Monday, soldiers from the Herev Battalion emerged from battle, sweaty, dusty and tired making history twice - as the first battalion to enter Lebanon and the one to spend the longest amount of time deep in enemy territory...the battalion secured the area of the kidnapping and assisted in the evacuation of the dead soldiers from the scene of the attack....the elite Maglan and Egoz Units suffered heavy casualties during clashes...Why did Herev succeed where so many other battalions appeared to have failed? "We are a strong unit." DISRUPTING AND WEAKENING UNITY IN OUR MILLITARY CAN HAVE FATAL CONSEQUENCES Jamie Weinstein, Grassroots Activism to Renew America April 20, 2005 Even if — and that's a really big if — the U.S. military was being unduly discriminatory, would it warrant action to weaken it? During World War II, there was segregation between whites and blacks within the ranks — certainly a clear case of discrimination. Yet, do you think it would have been prudent to try to weaken the military by hampering its recruitment efforts as a form of protest at a time our military was facing down Nazi Germany? Of course not. And what we have today doesn't even approach the type of discrimination that went on in the military during World War II. Whether you agree or disagree with DADT — there is logic behind it. NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IS THE LARGEST THREAT TO AMERICA Lieutenant General Patrick M. Hughes, USA Director, Defense Intelligence Agency Feb. 5-6 1997 The threats facing the United States have diminished in order of magnitude. This review of the global security environment assumes that the United States remains a global power militarily. Proliferation constitutes a direct threat to US interests worldwide. AMERICA'S MILITARY IS THE ONLY THING HOLDING ENEMIES AT BAY AS OUR SOFT POWER DECREASES Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Council on Foreign Relations June, 2004 Anti-Americanism has increased in recent years, and the United States' soft power is in decline as a result. The United States cannot confront the new threat of terrorism without the cooperation of other countries. OPEN HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MILITARY LEADS TO UNREST AND WILL WEAKEN THE US'S ABILITY TO PROTECT ITSELF ELAINE SCIOLINO, the New York Times July 19, 2000 Last July, Pfc. Barry Winchell, 21,[an open homosexual] was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat as he slept in his barracks at Fort Campbell. A 19-year-old private, Calvin Glover, was later court-martialed and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. Members of the unit in which the killing took place held anti-gay attitudes. --Advantage one underview: National Hegemony, or world influence, is made up of two things. Soft power, or the diplomatic process, and hard power, or military might. The U.S. is losing most if not all of it's soft power. This means that the only thing keeping other countries from attacking us is our hard power. Strong hard power can only be obtained from a well working, single entity militia. Most people don't realize the danger a collapse in U.S. hegemony has. As the world power, if we suddenly lose our strength it would lead to a massive struggle. Suddenly global powers like individual european countries, Iran, China, Russia, etc... will all be caught in a mad scramble to prove their dominance to attain the U.S.'s position as world superpower. In today's age a struggle of this kind would, and Could, only be solved with the use of nuclear weapons. As long as the U.S. can maintain the present level or more of hegemony we won't see this conflict. However, the U.S.'s soft power is already nearly non-existent. So we MUST keep our hard power up. Unfortunately, for better or for worse, a narrow minded view on homosexuality exists. Having open homosexuals in the military can and WILL decrease the effectiveness of our military thereby decreasing our hard power which leads to...well, nuclear war. I personally(look at my second speech) believe that gays should have just as many rights, however, we cant make that social reform just yet. If we could rely more on soft power then a slight drop in hard power wouldn't have the same implications. But since our soft power is practically non-existent, we don't have the liberty to rely on it...yet. Because we are debating Don't Ask Don't Tell, which is an AMERICAN policy, we must look to the security of our own nation as well as the dangers of a nuclear conflagration to determine whether or not it is a justified policy. For the time being, and since that's all we're debating the don't ask don't tell policy is necessary both to the security of america and to the security of every human wishing to avoid nuclear war.