Don't ask, don't tell abolished in the military, what about the other Don't ask, Don't tell?

R. Congress

The anti-gay "don't ask don't tell" policy in the U.S. military has been abolished leading to no restrictions against gays serving openly in the armed forces. Any extension of basic democratic and human rights in U.S. society is in general a good thing. No one should be forced to deny what he or she is in order to have a job or function legally in an organization or society.

Gender and sexual orientation discrimination needs to be outlawed the same as policies against black, latinos and women have been over the last decades (once discrimination is no longer legal it doesn't mean everything is suddenly great, real enforcement has to be struggled for).

But when it comes to the U.S. military I think there's some room for skepticism, or limits to any victory celebration.

There's another "Don't ask, don't tell" policy still in effect.

This is the one where the U.S. government doesn't ask the people of a given country, say, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen (or Vietnam, Grenada, Panama...etc) if they want to be invaded, bombed, killed, have their infrastructure destroyed, have the U.S. military govern them, or maybe use puppets that they choose, and when things settle down, have their natural resources and labor crudely exploited by U.S. corporations.

The "don't tell" part is when the U.S. and the servile "news" media don't tell the truth about why we invade, blockade, randomly bomb and loot other countries.

The claim is always that the military is responding to threat of terrorism and protecting national security. The reality is the U.S.A. is a predatory, imperialist empire that increasingly relies on massive violence and the establishment of military bases and military assets (as in Israel) around the world.

Is it really a great thing that gays can now fully participate in U.S. military campaigns of slaughter and domination of underdeveloped countries? Is it a good thing that anyone joins and or supports our imperial military?

I don't think all U.S. soldiers are heroes as portrayed by media and government propaganda. They are mostly cannon fodder whose lives are being cynically thrown away for the greater glory of the petrochemical, arms, financial industries and other parts of corporate America. Some others, as was super-schmuck John McCain, are consciously (and some unconsciously) racist and xenophobic.

A gay or lesbian soldier, the same as a black, latino, female, or ordinary white guy...all of them, as fellow citizens, should think about the institution of the U.S. military and how it's used around the world...all soldiers would be better off if the U.S. was no longer the imperial dominator of the world.