Conflicting Signs on DADT Repeal »
There are conflicting opinions coming out of the Military and the Administration on when to move forward on a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
Pentagon legal counsel for Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are saying to wait on the repeal at least another year according to the AP:
“Now is not the time,” the in-house legal counsel for Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote recently in a memorandum obtained by The Associated Press. “The importance of winning the wars we are in, along with the stress on the force, our body of knowledge and the number of unknowns, demand that we act with deliberation.”
Mullen received the conflicting advice this month about whether to move quickly to lift the 1993 ban, and it is not clear what he will recommend to President Barack Obama. Although allowing gays to serve openly in the military was one of Obama’s campaign promises, the issue was put on a back burner during his first year in office. Some liberal supporters and several congressional Democrats are pushing for action.
Pushing back the repeal effort would put it right in the middle of 2012, an election year that might make weak-spined legislators less than enthusiastic about supporting it.
