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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Chris Elliott                        Robyn Morrow                  Johnny Peña
                                      Fabian Sifuentes              Kristen Young

Pentagon needs to adapt to gays in military policy 

The air strike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi almost two weeks ago was a testament to the U.S. armed forces' ability to adapt in order to fight an unconventional enemy in the war on terror.

Antiquated air strike procedures that prevented timely bomb delivery on high-value targets allowed insurgents to get away far too often.

While the Pentagon has quickly embraced changes to fight a more effective war, it is still dragging its feet into the 21st century in regards to homosexuality. 

Pentagon documents still list homosexuality as a mental disorder 33 years after the America Psychiatric Association stopped listing it as a mental disorder.

Former president Bill Clinton attempted to fulfill his 1992 campaign promise to allow homosexuals in the military, but he was met with strong resistance. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy adopted by the Pentagon in the mid-1990s was compromise between the Defense Department and the White House.

If the Defense Department Instruction that lists retirement and discharge procedures for service members with physical and mental disabilities is reversed, there would be no need for a "don't ask, don't tell," policy anymore because the Pentagon won't have any justification to discharge homosexuals.

It is a radical thought for an institution to allow homosexuality into its midst after demonizing it for so long. However, if the last belief preventing its acceptance has not been condoned by the leading organization in mental disorder diagnosis in 33 years, allowing homosexuals in the military is the only thing that can be done in this instance.

Before people claim the safety of servicemen would be at risk if they were outed as homosexuals, all branches of the military have extensive anti-hazing training since the Tailhook scandal rocked the U.S. Navy, so hazing should not be an issue.

Most importantly, if the most powerful military in the world is ordered to allow homosexuals join its ranks, it will follow those orders honorably just as it has followed all of its orders throughout history.