The Pentagon Surrenders:

• Post by: Elaine Donnelly
• June 13, 2010

How the Pursuit of ‘Diversity’ Places the Military at Risk Americans who admire the United States military usually think of it as a conservative, traditional institution that maintains high standards, discipline, and core values unlike those of any institution in the civilian world. They might even think that the American military is a family-friendly institution. That may have been the case at one time. But in recent years, secretaries of defense, army generals and admirals, White House political appointees, and Pentagon bureaucrats have been undermining, albeit incrementally, the unique culture of the military that has made our fighting forces second to none. Yielding to political pressure from both Republican and Democratic commanders in chief, military leaders repeatedly have surrendered—against the wishes of the vast majority of subordinate personnel—to the demands of civilian ideologues, liberal media, and academics who do not understand or appreciate the unique culture of the military. These activists and allies in Congress want the military not so much to protect American interests abroad but to promote the anti-family, social-engineering agenda of “diversity” at home. When the September 11 attacks occurred, President George W. Bush mobilized the troops to fight, but he did not appeal to the nation’s young men to consider volunteering for the combat arms. Had he done so, many sons of America would have answered the call and the heightened need of new troops for the Middle East wars likely would have been met. Instead, the Bush administration retained “diversity” goals demanded by civilian and Pentagon feminist ideologues. The armed forces kept recruiting relatively more women and placing young mothers near the front lines of combat, resulting in the deaths of 112 daughters of America serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. Allan Carlson has called this a “shameful blot” on the American record.[1] President Barack Obama has gone