After watching the video itself my initial reaction was shock at how such an experienced
military tactician still carried the old biases of a past generation and now
attempted to use them as a ruse in order to prevent openly gay men and women
from entering the military. The massacre that took place has been deemed the
worst European massacre since the holocaust involving an act of genocide by the
Bosnian Serb’s towards the Muslim population in Bosnia. The general states that
these soldiers were handcuffed to telephone poles and allowed this particular
massacre to take place and apparently their sexuality was the cause of their
weakness.
For me the general seems to have adopted the same kinds of mid-twentieth century
ideologies that plagued the worldly population until the occurrence of people
like Harvey Milk who helped the people to realize that homosexuality was a
cause worth fighting for. With a country like America whose claims to allowing
its citizens to be “free” and judging and waging war on those regimes like the
Taliban and the Nazis who also despised homosexuality it seems to me when
people like the General are in the service of the US military and put into such
a high ranking position they still have a long way to go.
Then in some ways I felt that the generals own environment has lain within the grounds
of the barracks or the battlefield from a very young age and his own take on
“manliness” would have been tainted by those around him who would associate
homosexuality with being effeminate, a bold generalization I know yet there are
still many who believe this. Which shows that despite America being one of the
most significant societies that promotes equality to date there are still some
areas such as the military and perhaps the South itself who are in constant
protest in certain areas about the lifting of DADT they must work on though I
respect the fact there are many despite this who will nevertheless fail to
change their beliefs and give it a chance.
Thingsto take into account about the video are that it was a year before the actual
lifting of DADT and therefore failed (which you will also see in its view
count) to attract any major attention so the statement by the general was
almost insignificant to get the ban lifted. Another thing to consider would be
that in Ancient Greece the Sacred Band of Thebes was considered one of the
fiercest bands of soldiers of the time many would comment on their courage and
bravery and the band itself was made up of formations of same sex lovers a
monument was erected for them due to their said prowess in the field by Phillip
II of Macedon who defeated them.
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