Obama moves to end the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy

*Case Pro: Rebuttals* 1A. Unit Cohesion "President Obama will be jeopardizing the safety of gays who currently serve and will serve if he ends the policy; much less, if the policy is banned, it has potential to create tension so potent in our armed forces that it would distract our soldiers from being able to efficiently perform their assigned tasks. " The notion that unit cohesion would be jeopardized if don't ask don't tell were removed is demonstrably false. Consider, as though for the first time, the sheer number of countries where gays can serve openly in the military. 1. Argentina 2. Australia 3. Austria 4. Belgium 5. Bermuda 6. Canada 7. Czech Republic 8. Denmark 9. Estonia 10. Finland 11. France 12. Germany 13. Ireland 14. Israel 15. Italy 16. Lithuania 17. Luxembourg 18. The Netherlands 19. New Zealand 20. Norway 21. Philippines 22. Romania 23. Slovenia 24. South Africa 25. Spain 26. Sweden 27. Switzerland 28. United Kingdom 29. Uruguay [1] The lies promulgated by don't ask don't dell proponents become transparently obvious in light of this data. These country's militaries function just fine with gays serving openly. 1B. Regarding the safety of gay military personnel Hatred of gays is the result of many things, namely religion and ignorance. While I view the two as being synonymous it is important that I parse them for the sake of my argument. Homophobia is a disease wrought from ignorance that is cured through compassion and knowledge. If our goal is to protect gays then we should promote science, reason, and compassion to combat people's bigotry. By forcing gays to live a lie with don't ask don't tell we only further encourage their mistreatment and the discrimination that surrounds them. *Case Pro* Contention 1: Don't ask don't tell is harmful to the armed forces and therefore to the nation. Many qualified soldiers have been discharged from our military simply because of their sexual orientation. [2]-[3] For example, many highly qualified Arabic linguists in the military have been discharged as a result of don't ask don't tell. [4] Not only is this policy fantastically stupid, it is counterproductive and dangerous given how critical Arabic linguists are to our various military excursions. In this time of social instability and warfare it is simply unconscionable for the United States to expel some of the most qualified and brilliant soldiers in the nation simply because they are not heterosexual. Don't ask don't tell is a bad joke that weakens our standing in the war on terror and unfairly discriminates against people over something to which they have no control over. Its abolishment is not just necessary to end discrimination against gays, but for the protection of our very nation. ======== Conclusion ======== If we as a nation choose to allow fictitious lunacy to guide our public policy then we deserve the dysfunctional results that will likely follow. Don't ask don't tell is a discriminatory policy that forces brave soldiers to live a lie. Moreover, it jeopardizes our military standing as a nation because some of the most qualified members of the military are gay. Therefore, Obama should follow through with his promise to end don't ask don't tell. ---References--- [1]. http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] . http://gaylife.about.com... [3] . http://www.cnn.com... [4] . http://www.msnbc.msn.com... Good luck