Recruiters lie...
That's just not acceptable. If the military can't recruit without lying then maybe it doesn't deserve those recruits.
Recruiters lie. They always have. They always will. Most of their lies are in the form of omission. They don't explain the details of what military life is about, outside of generalities. They don't tell you that you are going to be scrubbing trash cans with toothbrushes at 5 in the morning. They don't tell you that you are going to be tired, sore, hungry and hot/cold for weeks on end. They don't tell you that you are going to be punished for not having your bunk tight enough, or your locker squared away. They tell you it will be "tough" That it will be a "challenge". And they can't tell you the truth about combat. No one can. Even those with combat experience only know the truth for them. They can tell you what it was like for them, but they can't tell you what it will be like for you. No one knows that, and if they say different, they are lying.
They don't tell you that you do not have the right to speak your mind, and will be punished for doing so. They tell you that you will learn discipline. They don't tell you alot of the little things that make up life in training, or the other things that make up life in duty units. You learn those as you go. You learn that the military doesn't pay well, compared to civilian jobs. You learn that your time "off" is not your own, you only get to pretend it is.
They tell you that your "deal" (recruitment contract" is the best thing there is for you, and then later you run into somebody who got a better deal than you did, even though they are no more qualififed than you are. They minimize the down sides to service, and maximize the benefits. That is their job. Of course they lie. They have to project a favorable image, and the absolute truth won't do that. But their lies are small things, in the big picture.
Never have any salesman tell you less than the absolute truth before you signed that contract? If you never have, you haven't been around much. In some ways recuiters are a lot like car salesman. And if you don't go into the service with your eyes open, you have no one to blame but yourself.
As far as the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, I think it is one of the smartest things the military has done in recent years. It allows them to get the benefits of service from gays, without having to deal with them being gay. Unlike society in general, the military is filled with horny young men. And while today they are more tolerant (in general) of gays, that has not always been the case. Back whan I served, just the rumor that someone might be gay was enough to get their ass kicked. Young men of that era were NOT at all tolerant of gays, to the point of violence!
The service has a couple of things they consider that civilian society doesn't. One is combat effectiveness, and the other is the social situations of barracks life. It is better today than in the past, but young men who are worried and distrustful of their comrades because they are gay do not make for a good situation, either in combat, or in the barracks.
It is not the same thing as not allowing blacks, or asians or jews or blondes to serve. It may appear to be the same principle, but the reality is somewhat different. Someday that will (hopefully) not be true, but that day is not yet. Just as blacks were segregated, (and at one time asians) "for the good of the service", gays must also be treated differently. Not so much for who they are, but for what the rest of us still are. For their own protection as much as anything. And I believe, just as blacks, asians, and even women are allowed to serve today without "special" treatment (although there are still special rules for women), one day perhaps, gays will not be thought of as anything "different". But even though not as bad as in the past, we are not there yet. And the DADT policy seems reasdonable to me. Especially the Don't Tell part.
And as far as the War in Iraq is concerned, our elected representatives may have been sold a bill of goods, but they bought it on our behalf. I was amazed that our so called thinkers in Congress actually voted the President the equivalent of a blank check! Today they complain when he uses it, but reality is, they gave it to him to use in the first place.
I do not agree with the way the war in Iraq has been handled. We can argue all day about "if" we should be there or not, but that doesn't matter any more that how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. We are there. The important question is what do we do and where do we go from there? I won't pretend to have the answers, but I think we should do something more constructive than just sitting around saying "Bush lied" and "we shouldn't be there". And so far, nobody opposing the Iraq "adventure" has publically come out with anything else. Or, if they have, they're keeping it pretty quiet.
A guy that can't do his job properly because he has this egotistical idea that another soldier wants to sleep with is not only fooling himself but doesn't seem cut out to do the job.
I don't see why women should get easier qualifications and then want combat roles. If they can do the job as well as any male soldier - and many of them certainly can - then there shouldn't be anything standing in their way. The backwards attitudes of soldiers that have a problem with it - whether they be racist soldiers, misogynist soldiers, or homophobic soldiers - shouldn't justify these kinds of things.