I personally think the liberal groups just drool at the mouth for anyone to declare homosexuality is immoral so they can publicly lambaste the individual, in this case, General Pace. How dare anyone not agree with the intolerant liberal groups.

Some people just don't get it. Don't Ask Don't Tell is a special policy/law for homosexuals. What the gay people want is to be treated like everyone else and seen for who they are and not who they sleep with. What many people apperantly don't understand is that under this policy a gay person "announces" that they are gay just by being seen going into a gay bar, associating with other gay people, or simply talking about their boyfriend/girlfriend of the same sex. Straight people aren't investigated and kicked out of the military for going into a "straight" bar, associating with "straight" friends, or talking about their opposite sex significant others. These simple acts are not an "announcement", they are everyday things that heterosexuals take for granted because they are'nt being forced to live a lie.

i love the post above that "intolerance isn't something we should be proud of"...

in years to come those who disciminate will be seen for the ignorant
bigots that they are...

there is a shortage of military people...and apparently the United States deserves to suffer as a result of their moral zealotry...

I came to terms with my homosexuality while serving as an officer and helo in the Navy from 1990 to 1993. At that time the homophobia in the ranks was overt, and not just tolerated but encouraged. It created a poisonous antmosphere for those of us who just wanted to do our duty. I hated having to put on one person with my uniform in the morning, and taking that person off and letting the real me come through at night while ashore. I had to hide who I was, while my fellow pilots and enlisted men flaunted their sexual exploits, describing in great detail what they had done with their girlfriends, or casual hookups. Given the opportunity to resign, when the military went through its Reduction In Force under President Clinton, I elected to escape and go to law school. The Navy, which had paid for my college degree through Navy ROTC, lost a trained pilot because of its bigotry and short-sightedness.

Our soldiers and marines in Iraq serve next to many openly gay soldiers from other countries with no problems. The dire consequences predicted when Britain, Canada and Australia considered allowing openly gay soldiers to serve have not come to pass. Just as President Truman racially integrated the military well before the civil rights movement brought about racial equality under the law, this Congress and President should allow dedicated gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to serve their country openly and proudly.

Gen. Peter Pace's comments on gays in the military makes me proud to be an American

What's so special about gays that you have to enact special laws for them? They are just people like the rest of us. I don't hear men advertising that they are men. And I don't hear women advertising that they are women. Then why should gays advertise that they are gay? "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is right policy.

As my father did before me, and his before him, and as my brother had also done, I wanted to join the military and serve my country. However, as events would happily conspire, my life took a different course and while I still serve my country, I serve it in a different way: As an educator, a volunteer, and as a participating citizen of this Democracy.

Being a young twenty-six years of age, I still qualify for military service. My name is on file for Selective Service (the draft) and will be for some time to come. Seventeen of my brother's shipments were victims of al Qaeda years before the name of that organization and it's founder, Osama bin Laden, were household words. Before the war, the number of people for whom the impact of a terrorist's actions were immediately felt was unimaginably small. My brother was one of those people. So were his immediately family, myself included. In my heart, I wanted to do something...

...but I couldn't. Fighting for others' freedom meant subjugating my very being. You see, I am a gay man and my country does not wish for me to volunteer my services and give the best years of my life to it as long as I refuse to deny that which I am.

With that, this country loses a highly-educated, multi-lingual resource, one who broke testing records at the San Diego recruitment facility. One who spoke with congressmen in high school, investigating the possibility of going to the Naval Academy. Their bigotry is their loss... and your's.

As black soldiers proved before, as women soldiers proved later, and as gay and lesbian soldiers have been proving just as long - albeit sometimes more quietly - effective leadership and soldiering does not come from one's genetics alone.. it comes from their dedication and loyalty to do the right thing... and to get that right thing done.

Our government needs to do the right thing in return: Stop closeting and suppressing your most faithful and trustworthy of servants: American Soldiers.

It seems Gen. Pace is being slammed for voicing his personal opinion because it is not politically correct. Does he follow the regulations? Are his opinions based on homo-phobia, religious up-bringing...? I don't know, but salute to the general for not apoligizing. Just to throw my hat into the ring I think a person's sexual orientation should not be a political volley ball.
By the way, the Pentagon correspondent on this evenings broadcast voiced his own personal opinion when he stated that the general should not have stated his. Not very professional for a newscaster is it?

General Pace is the Tim Hardaway of Generals. When you hear comments like the ones he made, it is easy to see how the U.S. doesn't quite grasp some of the subtleties and complexities of the situation in Iraq. Intolerance probably isn't something our leaders should take so much pride in.

As an active duty Air Force member, I'm absolutely appalled that a senior leader would take this stance publically. It doesn't matter that he back-pedaled later and said it was his own opinion. It's irrelevant whether it's his opinion or not--as a member of our armed forces, he's ultimately an ambassador of our military (at any rank or branch). This is direct, verifiable, and targetted discrimination and it angers me to see someone tarnish the image of our military.

The part that bothers me most is this: I'm trained from Day-1 in basic training to not discriminate. I cannot treat an African-American female any differently than a Caucasian male of same rank and duty position. I cannot discriminate against my Jewish NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) because she is a non-Christian.

How do I explain to my brand new Airman, fresh out of basic training, that "this" is an allowable form of discrimination? If there was only a way I could affect change; a way I could bring this issue to a higher level without fear of reprisal, I would. We're in a state of war and cannot afford to discharge competent, capable individuals merely because they're sexual orientation doesn't agree with mine.

They're still people!

This is the struggle for racial integration revisited. Back before blacks were allowed to have equal rights, there were bigots in power doing everything possible to keep them from having a chance to participate fully in our society.

We have similar bigots in power throughout the military today: right-wing evangelical Christians who have forgotten Christ's message of tolerance and instead are fighting tooth and nail to keep the "sinners" out of the military. They prefer the Old Testament, which prescribed that gays (as well as adulters and no shortage of others) should be put to death. And they pretend that the world will end if we allow gays to openly serve.

No less a conservative than Barry Goldwater noted before his death that gays had served in the military since at least the time of Caesar, and had done so honorably.