Sunday, August 01, 2010

"Military Homosexual Scandal Tied to WikiLeaks Treason"

The caption of this post is the headline that appears on a far right news site and could well be the begining of an additional ploy used by the anti-gay opponents of DADT repeal to smear LGBT servicemembers in general. The author even gets in a swipe at transgender individuals and Rachel Maddow. True, a few legitimate news sites (e.g., MSNBC and The Telegraph) have referenced alleged Wikileaks principal suspect Bradley Manning's comments on a "break up with a boyfriend" barely in passing. But not so with the always homophobic Cliff Kincaid, editor of grossly inappropriately named Accuracy in Media. Kincaid alleges that Manning's release of the documents - assuming he actually released them, something not yet proven - was because of his "hatred" for the U.S. military because of the DADT policy. Not surprisingly, Kincaid manages to also leap frogs from these passing comments into a full blown rant against gays, the Obama administration and why DADT should not be repealed. His rant can be found at RightsideNews. Opponents of DADT need to be ready to counter this trash. Here is a sampling of Kincaid's trash talk:
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In the scandal involving the theft and release of classified military information that could cost the lives of U.S. military personnel, the British Telegraph newspaper is reporting that the American soldier at the center of the scandal was "openly homosexual" and apparently held a grudge against the U.S. because of the military's anti-gay policy.
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In another bizarre twist, reliable reports suggest that Private First Class Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army Intelligence analyst accused of leaking the classified information to the WikiLeaks.org website, was not only a homosexual but was considering a sex change. Manning was arrested at the end of May and is being detained by U.S. authorities.
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It is apparent that Manning, based on published reports, was a public homosexual activist for at least over a year. During this time he apparently came up with the idea of downloading and releasing the classified information to WikiLeaks as a way to get back at the United States military over its policy regarding homosexuality.

Telegraph writers Heidi Blake, John Bingham and Gordon Rayner write that Manning had "appeared to sink into depression after a relationship break-up" and became increasingly bitter with his treatment by the Army. It may be the case that Manning was anxious about the failure of Congress to pass the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" anti-gay military policy.
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In a clear indication that the law was being ignored by the Obama Administration, the evidence demonstrates that Manning was continuing to serve after openly flaunting his homosexuality, including on Facebook.

Who in the Obama Administration-and the Department of Defense-was aware of his conduct and looked the other way? Was Manning given a pass because his "lifestyle" was considered to be in favor and acceptable under the Obama Administration?

Now, because of the obvious mishandling of this homosexual ticking time bomb, it appears that the United States, its soldiers, and relations with countries in the region will pay the price. Lives-and a war on terrorism in Afghanistan-could be lost.
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The obvious intention is to inflict a humiliating defeat on the U.S. military in Afghanistan, forcing a withdrawal of U.S. forces before the country is stabilized and free of terrorist activity.

The result could be the major reemergence of Al Qaeda and its Taliban backers in a position to strike the United States in a 9/11-type terror attack. It will be interesting to see how the pro-homosexual U.S. media deal with the shocking revelations about Manning-and whether they investigate whether he was part of a secret homosexual network in the military that is currently working with WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, . .
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A screen capture of Manning's Facebook profile shows the pages he liked were almost exclusively LGBT-related, including LGBT America, Gay Marriage, Equality Maryland, Dan Savage, Human Rights Campaign, etc." LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered. The Facebook image also shows that he enjoyed the MSNBC program hosted by Rachel Maddow, the lesbian activist, . .
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The dramatic revelations about Manning's circle of friends and associates suggest that, rather than repeal the homosexual exclusion policy, as Obama is demanding, the prohibition on homosexuals should have been more strictly enforced and that it should be strengthened today. What's more, it is clear that Manning should have been expelled from the Armed Forces long before he allegedly did his damage to U.S. national security.
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Unfortunately, I suspect that Kincaid is but the first of the far right elements that will try to use Manning - whether he's innocent or not of leaking the information - to fan the flames of homophobia. Gay rights bloggers and activist need to be ready to counter this slander.

1 comment:

BJohnM said...

So, Kincaid's latched onto the idea that Manning was striking back against DADT. Sounds more like a reason to eliminate DADT than to keep it...to me anyways.