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March 01, 2005
Letter to the Editor: Recruitment ban could hurt already-bloodied military
Is it contradictory to protest the war in Iraq, yet support the troops and encourage them to finish their job as efficiently and successfully as possible? I do not believe so. While I vehemently oppose the cause that President Bush has taken on in Iraq, the matter is past the point of deliberation. The U.S. troops will not, and at this point should not, leave Iraq until the job is complete, and that will not happen if there are not enough well-supplied troops with enough morale to let them finish the job properly.
Is it contradictory to oppose discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, yet support federal funds being denied to schools that refuse on-campus military recruiters? Many would say yes, given that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is a law that permits the firing of individuals who express their sexual orientation.
At Hamline, where the student body tends to lean very noticeably to the left, there is pressure to support a ban against military recruiters because of the military’s policy regarding homosexuals. I believe, however, that this time the students have failed to see the larger picture and have let their pent-up frustration over John Kerry’s lost election disrupt their thinking.
There has been a tremendous decline in the amount of men and women enrolling in the armed forces over the past several months, and at a time when obtaining the amount of troops necessary to stabilize the situation in Iraq is vital, the military cannot afford to see one of its largest sources of troop recruitment ban them from their premises.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy may be considered discrimination by some and not by others. Homosexuals are not prevented from joining the armed forces, and troop morale as well as the cohesiveness of a unit are aspects to consider when debating such a policy, yet I shall not make an attempt to debate them now. Whether it is discrimination or not, the military hardly has the time to worry about such questions given its current situation. I do not think that anyone can reasonably expect the military to devote serious time and energy to this question when they are also expected to win a war and keep peace in Iraq.
The students who drafted the proposal at Hamline and the other supporters of this measure may be well-intentioned, but what they are asking for may seriously weaken a military that is already suffering from dilapidation. It goes without mentioning that most universities, including Hamline, receive federal funding, and in doing so are being supported by a government that upholds the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It is, of course, hypocritical to accept one and not the other, but Hamline’s student congress is willing to overlook that since the federal funding they receive would be sorely missed. Principles rarely triumph over principal.
Military recruiting is a simple thing to disregard without resorting to banning recruiters from campuses. If a military recruiter tries to solicit a student to join the armed forces, it takes very little effort to say, “No thanks,
I am not interested.” Not only has that person managed to not join the armed forces, that person has not prevented others on that campus from joining the armed forces if they so choose. The students’ proposal may seem like the right thing to do, but it is simply the wrong fight at the wrong time.
Tim Allen
CLA Student
Posted by msveum at March 1, 2005 07:37 PM
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