Since 9/11 the predominant focus of this administration has been the "war on terror." It was the justification for the war in Afghanistan. It was, to some extent, the justification, however faulty, for the war in Iraq. And it continues to dominate the political rhetoric of virtually every major American politician. So one would think that gearing up our military to best be in a position to deal with terrorists, particularly of the Islamic variety (since the government barely acknowledges the existence of other kinds of terrorism,) would be a high priority. But sometimes there arises a particular situation where two competing impulses are put in direct opposition. In this case, the first would be the drive to make the army as effective as possible in dealing with terrorism. The other is the endless war against homosexuals that conservatives within our country are waging. The winner is a good indication of where our government's priorities lie.

So a dedicated serviceman with an invaluable skill, proficiency in the Arabic language, was discharged because of accusations that he is a homosexual. And he's not alone, with hundreds of others with similarly useful skills, kicked to the curb because it was discovered that they are gay.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy is the result of a somewhat awkward compromise that resulted from Bill Clinton's attempts to change the military's policy that to that point had called for a "section 8" forced discharge of anyone discovered to be gay while serving. Conservative pressure limited Clinton's ability to enact meaningful change, and the resulting policy grants the military fairly broad discretion in forcibly discharging those who it has deemed to be homosexual. But it's not mandatory. Despite laying out the conditions under which the military may decide to discharge someone because of homosexual activity, if it is determined that "separation of the member [from the armed forces] would not be in the best interest of the armed forces" then there is no requirement that they be discharged.

One might hope that in the modern military, with politicians in charge who have decided to turn our armed forces into a tool against the "war on terror," that keeping people like Sergeant Copas, with valuable skills, might take priority over enforcing a reactionary anti-homosexual agenda. Apparently not.