Re: A New Push to Roll Back 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'


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A New Push to Roll Back 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

By THOM SHANKER and PATRICK HEALY
http://www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 - Marking the 14th anniversary of legislation that
allowed gay men and lesbians to serve in the military but only if they
kept their orientation secret, 28 retired generals and admirals plan to
release a letter on Friday urging Congress to repeal the law.

"We respectfully urge Congress to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell'
policy," the letter says. "Those of us signing this letter have
dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe
whatever they wish."

The retired officers offer data showing that 65,000 gay men and lesbians
now serve in the American armed forces and that there are more than one
million gay veterans.

"They have served our nation honorably," the letter states.

The letter's release comes as rallies are scheduled on the Mall by
groups calling for a change in the law, which is known as "don't ask,
don't tell" because it bars the military from investigating soldiers'
sexual orientation if they keep it to themselves.

Although the signers of the letter are high-ranking, none are of the
stature of Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff when the policy was adopted and who now argues for its
repeal. General Shalikashvili refocused attention on the issue earlier
this year when he wrote that conversations with military personnel had
prompted him to change his position.

The current generation of Americans entering the armed services have
proved to him "that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers,"
the general wrote in an Op-Ed article published in The New York Times on
Jan. 2.

"I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United
States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed
forces," General Shalikashvili wrote. "Our military has been stretched
thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the
service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."

Few issues have split the Democratic and Republican presidential
candidates this year as clearly as whether to repeal "don't ask, don't
tell."

At a debate in June, all of the Democratic candidates said they favored
rescinding the policy. The Republican candidates, meanwhile, have
favored continuing it, saying that it is a sensible approach or that it
would be a distraction to integrate openly gay service members into the
armed forces at a time of war.

Efforts to prompt the House and Senate to repeal the legislation have
gained little traction. Senior leaders at the Pentagon are on the record
as saying the Department of Defense will follow the lead of Congress.

"Personal opinion really doesn't have a place here," Defense Secretary
Robert M. Gates said in March. "What's important is that we have a law."

Mr. Gates was responding to comments by Gen. Peter Pace, who was serving
as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and had reignited controversy
over the issue when he said homosexuality was immoral, similar to
adultery.

Before the policy was put into place, gay men and lesbians were barred
from serving in the military. When he ran for president in 1992, Bill
Clinton pledged to change that, but after he was elected, Mr. Clinton
had to compromise on "don't ask, don't tell," under which gay soldiers
could serve as long as they did not disclose their sexual orientation.

From the time the policy became law through 2006, just over 10,000
members of the armed forces have been forced from the military under the
policy, according to government statistics.

According to the Pentagon, the number of service members discharged
under the policy has declined noticeably since the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, dropping to 612 in the 2006 fiscal year from 1,227 in the 2001
fiscal year.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that there were no
efforts at the Pentagon or across the military to alter the policy.

"There are no changes being contemplated in the department," Mr. Whitman
said. "It is the law, and we are following the law carefully."

Activities planned on Friday to mark the anniversary of the legislation
are to center on a rally on the Mall in tribute to the service members
discharged under the policy. Sponsors of the rally include organizations
like the Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers United, Log Cabin
Republicans, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Liberty Education.

Among Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination, John
Edwards has sometimes tweaked Mr. Clinton - and by extension, Mr.
Edwards's rival Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York - for bowing
to military brass and going along with the "don't ask, don't tell"
compromise.

Mrs. Clinton has been a steady critic of the policy, though she is
careful not to rebuke her husband for his actions in 1993. She has said
he did the best he could, as a new president, maneuvering around a
political land mine.

Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, has taken a strong stand
against "don't ask, don't tell," at times comparing it to the
integration of blacks in the armed forces as both a moral issue and an
achievable goal.

At a debate on Wednesday night, several Republican presidential
candidates repeated their support for keeping the policy, among them
Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Vietnam veteran and member of the
Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. McCain said senior generals had
told him "almost unanimously" that the policy was working.

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas said that while "people have a
right to have whatever feelings, whatever attitudes they wish," morale
and unit cohesion were paramount in the military, and that the current
policy helped protect both.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

So, 28 queer generals don't want their lovers to be kicked out of the
service. That's no surprise. When generals retire they pass their bitches on
to the next in line in return for travel, PX and Commissary SPs.


--
Dissent is a luxury afforded those who are
protected by much better men and women.


http://www.reason.com/

JC



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