Cultural Survival Skills

Wikileaks and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

I have a very sweet and peaceful run-up to CHRISTmas planned for my blog.

 I hope you will stop-by on each of the five days before Christmas for a short, effortless and  delightful treat starting on Monday. No politics, no controversy, just heart-warming reminiscences.

But for today, I will address two issues that have my blood boiling..and I will “take the gloves off” to discuss these issues.

The first issue is Wikieleaks. Some say that the leaking of thousands of America’s secrets during a time of war was an act of “free speech”, even patriotism. Never mind the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, and maybe…Iran, N. Korea, and their allies…not to mention the ongoing world-wide onslaught of radical Muslim Terrorism).  During WWI and WWII would have executed those responsible and shut down the news sources that published them. But, of course,  those were the days when we were savage enough to win wars and survive as a nation.

First some definitions:

The Espionage act of 1917 defined espionage as: A) conveying information with the intent of interfering with an operation or the success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies, and B) false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies and to willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States.

According to the Constitutional Dictionary, Treason is “The offense of attempting to overthrow the government or one’s own country or assisting its enemies in war.

If proven, the purposeful leaking of thousands of secret and top-secret informational items by U.S. Army Private Bradly Manning is clearly an act of treason. I vote for the death penalty or life in prison. In the not too distant past, private Manning would have justifiably faced a firing squad. I prefer the traditional approach to such matters.

With regard to Julian Assange, the Australian activist who took the thousands of leaked U.S. secrets and sent them to news outlets and published them on the internet, very grave consequences are also in order. He is not a U.S. citizen, so the Espionage Act of 1917 may cover his offense. If only one of our people is killed, or any of our allied forces, I will hope that we provide  more “leaks” to Mr. Wikieleak. A firing squad would provide him the deserved leaks.

I will not stipulate the punishment for our own news media, however they need an object lesson in the differences between patriotism, protected free speech, and Treason. Severe penalties should be applied to these business organizations.

It appears that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has been repealed. We are fools for loosing sight of the fact that when one enlists in the military that they lose their civil liberties. All that matters is that wars be won and our targets be destroyed in the most efficient and effective ways possible. Nothing, certainly not social sensitivities or political correctness, should ever be allowed to interfere with this task. We have already damaged our fighting efficiency by mixing women into close quarters our male fighting forces. The results have been the necessity of new “sensitivity” and  heterosexual conduct training, increased cases of sexual harassment, rape cases (investigations and court proceedings), loss of training investments and operational readiness due to pregnancies, and within-troop marriages and divorces with all of the fall-out…all cavitating within our military.

Now that actively gay and lesbian enlistments are encouraged, the same problems will likely more than double. More than double? Yes, I expect this because gay men generally have a great many more sexual partners than do straight males. Sexual fidelity, at least among gay males, is not a controlling moral value for most.

The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t tell is a result of our military leaders caving-in to the strong-arm tactics of our progressive political leaders who pander to their liberal constituents in order to stay alive. The repeal is also a result of a naive young voting public, the majority of whom, know nothing of the military ethics and operational standards that made America the mightiest on earth.

Our behavior, in all domains, continues to be massively self-destructive.

Wake-up America

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.  12/19/10

P.S. While my respect and gratitude goes to all who serve honorably in our military, my Strongest admiration goes to the Marine Corps, who never gave-in on this issue.  I am proud to have once been a member of our submarine service. They too are an elite fighting force, but they have caved to recent political-correctness pressures. Soon there will be both women and active homosexuals on our submarines. If I were a young man today, knowing what I know now, I would hope to qualify to serve in the Marine Corps. They worship and live their unparalleled traditions of exclusivity and high achievement…and they did not forsake their primary responsibilities to America in order to pursue a politically motivated social experiment during a time of war.