The Death of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Last week, the policy of "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed in the United States through a law signed into action by President Obama. "Don't ask, don't tell" has been the policy in the United States armed forces since 1993. There are a few details that need to be worked out, though. For one, troops now need to be trained on "how sexual preference should be handled when army staff are organising sleeping arrangements in military barracks." Guidelines such as this need to be signed by Obama as well as important figures in the military. After that is done, there will be an additional sixty days in which the ban will still be in place before the new law in placed into action.

"'No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military, regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance because they happen to be gay'" --President Barack Obama

The repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy makes me very happy. It is about time that equality is broadened even more in the United States. For a country that brags about how everybody is equal and is entitled to the same rights, there sure are a lot of restrictions placed on people that are seen as "different". I hope there won't be many problems encountered along they way to finalizing the law.

Source: BBC News--"Barack Obama signs gay military law"

New Start Treaty

On Wednesday, the United States Congress approved the New Start treaty. This treaty is between the United States and Russia, and through it "Russia and the United States will cut deployed nuclear warheads by 30%." Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of Russia's lower house, is likely to approve the treaty on Friday. However, the upper house in Russia probably won't be able to approve the New Start treaty before the end of the year. This treaty is to be the biggest "arms control agreement" in about twenty years, President Obama said, and will keep everyone safer.

I think that this is a very good agreement. Anything that will hopefully keep nuclear weapons under control is beneficial for not only Russia, but also the United States. It would be even better if treaties such as this were not limited to two countries, but were shared by any countries around the world that are in possession of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that all of those countries will participate in such an agreement.

Source: BBC News--"Russia applauds US vote to back nuclear arms treaty"