The sponsor of the House bill to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell has an op-ed in Politico today. Next week, Murphy will be offering a DADT repeal amendment to the House version of the 2011 Defense Authorization bill.
Murphy is an Iraq Vet and he speaks with authority on military issues. He's the right guy to be leading this battle in the House. The post begins with a scene from his service in Iraq -- and the reality of how DADT impairs the security of our troops and our nation:
It was 138 degrees in summer 2003, as my lead Humvee roared through the middle of Baghdad. I was a captain with the 82nd Airborne. Temperatures and tension ran high.Murphy has been a fierce advocate.
As we drove through the dusty streets, I kept a vigilant lookout for roadside bombs. Suddenly, we spotted an agitated crowd of Iraqis at a gas station. As our vehicles pulled up, the crowd turned to us with anger in its eyes and began shouting furiously in Arabic. I felt the tightness of fear rise up in my chest as the crowd closed around us.
But we had no clue what they were trying to say.
My paratroopers and I tried to calm them down. I knew I had to control the situation somehow. But the tension mounted. The Iraqis couldn’t understand us, and we couldn’t understand them.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my Humvee gunner move his hand to the trigger of his machine gun. The situation was about to explode, and I didn’t know what was going to happen.
America is currently engaged in two wars. Our military is stretched thin. Yet we have removed more than 13,000 honorable men and women — including 60 Arabic speakers — from our armed forces. They were removed from our military’s ranks not for any misconduct but simply because they are gay.
Those are 60 linguists who could be out with our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping them avoid situations like the one my men and I found ourselves in. That’s 60 translators who right now could be interpreting intelligence that could prevent the next Sept. 11.
The arguments for keeping the misguided 1993 law that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly — known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” — are weak and outdated.
Murphy is doing his part. We all need to help him make this happen: Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121. They need to hear from our side.
