american zeroes

Gen. John Sheehan + Tony Perkins Very Worried Out Gays Will Spread HIV Across the Military

If it wasn’t clear already, retired former Marine Gen. John Sheehan, who was forced to apologize after claiming gay Dutch soldiers were to blame for a massacre, is turning away from “respected military leader” into “leading hate leader.” A shared byline about DADT — and how the gays are going to spread HIV — with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins is all the evidence you need.

Aim some of that angst toward Politico for publishing not “differences of opinion,” but discriminatory vitriol that has no place in civilized debate.

Sheehan and Perkins lambaste the president for caving to a “special interest group”: queer Americans. Hiding behind the familiar “out gays will ruin unit cohesion” crapola, the pair insist:

Men and women should be allowed to serve in the military only if their character and conduct can help the U.S. armed forces achieve its mission. In multiple studies over the past 16 years, the addition of open homosexuality into the close quarters and tightly knit units of our military was predicted to add tension, not build unit cohesion.

“Unit cohesion” is essential to the success of the U.S. military. Respect for and loyalty and commitment to one another, to the point of a willingness to die for your buddy, is the single greatest imperative in any military force.

Yet homosexuality carries with it profound behavioral implications. Sexual attraction among members of the same sex — living, exercising, fighting and training alongside one another in the closest of quarters — could devastate morale, foster heightened interpersonal tension and lead to division among those who, more than virtually any other group in society, need to act as one.

And then there’s this whopper:

In addition, the medical implications of Obama’s proposal are compelling. According to data released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gay and bisexual men are 50 times more likely to have HIV than heterosexual men. This would be devastating for military resources already stretched thin, and it has pronounced implications for battlefield blood transfusions.

The lack of awareness shared between these two men would be astonishing, if we weren’t already aware both of them are letting moral convictions override interests in national security. Their conclusions completely ignore the undeniable fact that gays and lesbians already serve in the armed forces, and yet there doesn’t seem to be any HIV outbreak, let alone one tied to their service.

Perkins and Sheehan are both veterans, and they are both dishonorable.

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