Oliver North is No Authority on Integrity in the Military

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-05 14:36:00 UTC
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Oliver NorthWhen Admiral Mike Mullen testified before the U.S. Senate this week, he said that the reason "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be repealed is because it's a policy that compromises the integrity of the U.S. military. It forces soldiers to lie about who they are, and it entrenches within the military a culture of dishonesty.

Oliver North disagrees. But Oliver North is no saint when it comes to compromising the integrity of our military.

North, a retired U.S. marine officer, is widely remembered for being involved in the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran in the 1980s, and then using the profits from those weapons to funnel money down to Nicaragua to support rebels. Whether he likes to put it on his resume or business cards, Oliver North was probably the biggest military failure of the 1980s, finishing his military career with more felony charges that that leveled against Michael Jackson's doctor.

Where would someone with such a weasely reputation end up? Why, Fox News of course. And it's on that network where Oliver North went after efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," telling Sean Hannity that if the military lets openly gay troops in, they might as well just go ahead and open the door to pedophiles, too.

"Now, here's what's next. NAMBLA members, same-sex marriages," North said, trotting out the age-old NAMBLA association that died a miserable death decades ago. "Are chaplains in the US military going to be required to perform those kinds of rituals? Do they [pedophiles and homosexuals] get government housing?"

Oliver North then accused President Obama of treating U.S. soldiers like lab rats, experimenting with them to see how they'll react to queer people.

So much for Adm. Mullen's plea that all sides of this debate remain sensible. Because either Oliver North was intoxicated during his appearance, or his intelligence on the issue of politics is extremely stunted. I'm betting on the latter.

Perhaps Igor Volsky over at Think Progress put it best, saying that the "irony of a convicted felon who lied about diverting proceeds from arms sales to a rebel group in Nicaragua, supporting a policy that forces gay and lesbian servicemen to lie about their sexual orientation" must have been lost on Sean Hannity.

But at least now Oliver North can add another thing to his career portfolio: Homophobe. Maybe CBS would like to offer him a commercial?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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