Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has let it be known where he stands on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: wait, please. His legal counsel just released the Pentagon topper’s recommendation for repealing DADT, which goes like this: let’s give it another year.
Citing 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,” Mullen’s position is not terribly surprising. Back in May, Mullen said basically the same thing: About how “we’re in our sixth year of fighting two wars” and how he wants to “avoid a polarizing debate that puts a force that’s very significantly under stress in the middle” and how we needed to be “”deliberate.” His attorney’s comments included a request that Congress and senior military officials “act with deliberation.”
But that doesn’t make things definitive.
Mullen and other Pentagon leaders have quietly begun a new push to build consensus for the timing of a repeal that Mullen and others assume will come eventually. Strong opposition to swift repeal remains among top uniformed military leaders.
Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman for Mullen, would not discuss the legal advice and said there has been no decision among the Joint Chiefs about what to do or when. He would not characterize Mullen’s own views.
“They continue to have a dialogue about the policy and the law,” keeping in mind Obama’s “strategic intent” to lift the ban, Kirby said.
Mullen was unable to get the full backing of other senior uniformed leaders during an unusual meeting of the top officers from each branch of the military last week, U.S. officials said. He is expected to hold a follow-up session within days.
As for support in Congress? Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that Mullen’s legal team is on the right track: “It’s not a good idea to change the law right now.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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The memo from Mullen’s in-house counsel was obtained by the Associated Press. How the AP got it, we don’t know. But these things don’t leak for no good reason. Often, they are distributed surreptitiously to the press (“Here’s the document, but you didn’t get it from me”) in an orchestrated effort to put out feelers, nudge policy makers, and even make an official comment with some subtlety. And because DADT is such a sensitive issue, we have a hard time believing such a document would leak from the Pentagon without the White House’s approval.
Brian NJ
One of Rahm’s sneaky phone calls, no doubt, to clear the path for his push to put civil rights for illegal immigrants before civil rights for gay vets and families.
That leak is to see if WE are willing to wait, not THEM, and the answer is NO.
If anyone thinks for one fucking minute that stopping trained vets from getting dumped on the street is better for the health of the troops than keeping the men and woman IN the force to actually FIGHT, they are OUT OF THEIR FUCKING MIND. If they think WE are going to believe that nonsense, they are sorely mistaken.
The have dumped enough vets, putting other troops at risk — linguists and the rest of them. The policy should have ended a long time ago, and the military is overdue.
zenflo
I have been very enthusiastic in my support for President Obama, but I am losing patience, and fast.
For every Neandrathal who leaves the forces solely on the basis of gays, the U.S. stand the opportunity of gaining a new soldier that no is no longer barred from open service.
It’s that simple, though the Adminstration, shamefully, is doing what it can to make it seem less so.
I am more than ready to sit on the sidelines if President Obama runs for reelection with this promise unkept.
Must we endure four new years of Republican presidential leadership starting in 2012, just to prove to our fellow Democrats and Independents we mean business on this issue?
Observer1000
Let’s face it. They’re just afraid of a bunch of homos.
Rich
What is the Commander in Chief’s response to all of this?
The sound of silence speaks volumes.
Bob R
The Pentagon is counting on Democrats losing seats in the House and their majority in the Senate in 2010. If DADT repeal can delayed another year, it will not happen for another decade, if at all. It really has to be repealed now. I sincerely doubt there will be an exodus if DADT is repealed. And is there is, good riddence, with today’s economy and no job growth seen for several years in the civilian market, the military will have no trouble meeting its recruiting goals. Hell, they accept misfits, single parents, sociopaths with criminal backgrounds but refuse to let gays who are better qualified and want to serve their country do so. That’s insane! Discipline must be restored in the Pentagon and they should be reminded that if the CinC or civilian authority gives them an order, whether the Generals/Admirals like it or not, they salute and carry it out to the best of their ability. Otherwise they should hang up their uniforms and find other work. I’m sure Blackwater or Xe or whatever the mercenary thugs are now calling themselves will be glad to hire them. Repeal DADT now!
Rich
In an interesting disruption of logic, the 1993 DADT statute gives the President authority to suspend DADT enforcement during times of national emergency — e.g. war. The rationale is that the discharge of qualified servicemembers hurts our national security and should be minimized during times of conflict. Yet, the head of our uniformed military now argues for the exact opposite approach than what is provided in the statute.
President Obama can end this today with the stroke of a pen on an executive order. The common argument against executive action is that some future president might override the action without Congress overturning the DADT law. This is also an illogical argument. Once gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly by Presidential directive there is no reasonable way to put that genie back in the bottle. With up to 65,000 gay and lesbian servicemembers, the likelihood of a future President making the decision to summarily fire all of them simultaneously is absurd. For one, the military couldn’t afford to process that many discharges all at once. The President needs to cut through all of this hostile anti-gay rhetoric and act now.
Michael W.
“And because DADT is such a sensitive issue, we have a hard time believing such a document would leak from the Pentagon without the White House’s approval.”
Are you fucking kiddin me?
So did the White House approve the Pentagon leaking of Stanley McChrystal’s Afghan assessment, the one that backed Obama up against the wall on the troop buildup and branded him a dithering coward who waits idly as our soldiers and marines are slaughtered?
You truly know nothing about politics if you think the White House has firm control over the Pentagon. That is NOT how it works. The Pentagon is its own entity, the military has practically become its own branch of government and they won’t let any president, especially a Democrat, tell them what to do.
In no way am I excusing Barack Obama, nor do I feel he’s on a mission to repeal DADT by any means necessary, but to imply that this is an orchestrated affair on behalf of the White House is a crazy stupid assumption. Obama’s first year in office has only served to demonstrate time after time that the Pentagon and the military have no respect for his authority.
Rich
@ Michael W:
You are right — this isn’t an orchestrated affair on the part of the White House because the President has put zero effort into orchestrating anything that resembles a path to DADT repeal. You may see the military as disrespecting the President’s authority, but in my view, he hasn’t asserted any authority at all in this case. The Commander in Chief has been entirely absent from this discussion. That is the most disappointing part about this whole debate.
Lee
This has got to be the most insane thing I’ve seen in some time. Publically disagree through “leaked sources” with the Commander and Chiefs position on DADT and nothing out of the white house. Please just pick up the pin Mr President and end this hurtful and unfair policy. You have the responsibility to keep your word and the military has the responsibility to follow YOUR orders. The military is not a democracy so please stop acting like it is. This is the one and only oppurtunity to end DADT for the forseable future. Please don’t let it slip away.
Herb
“Strong opposition to swift repeal remains among top uniformed military leaders.”
Excuse me, but it’s 16 years too late to be a swift repeal. Military bigots have known for a very long time that the end of DADT was inevitable. To act like it’s something that’s all of a sudden come to their attention is bogus.
The bigots will not be any more ready for the end of DADT in the future than they are now.
Ozymandias
Ridiculous. I agree with Bob R. that the Pentagon is simply dragging it’s feet until the post-Congressional elections, hoping that there will be a big enough Republican swing that there won’t be enough support for an appeal.
And let’s just carry this forward a little further – right now the big excuse is, ‘We can’t disrupt our fighting forces while in the middle of two wars!’ But then when we’re out of Iraq and have begun the draw-down in Afghanistan (hopefully) then the excuse will be, ‘Well, there’s no pressing need to have Gays serve openly, we’re not in any wars!’… and round we go on the circular logic train!
It seems to me that the current ‘logic’ in enlistment is summed up:
Person A – 4.0 GPA, lettered in sports, civic awards and is openly Gay… can’t enlist.
Person B – 2.8 GPA, history of disruptive behavior (including sexual assault), has a history of racial antagonism and is straight… CAN enlist. (Thanks sooo much Moral Waivers!)
schlukitz
Moon Mullen needs to get stuffed!!!
AxelDC
So, 17 years of a bad policy that makes the Defense Department discriminate against gays isn’t enough?
Obama should have issued a stop-loss order his first day in office and then let Congress hash it out. Instead, we keep firing people simply for the crime of being gay while the Army tries to recruit excons since it can’t meet its quotas.
crystal.glass
@Ozymandias:
Not all heterosexuals in the military are criminals with low IQ’s and GPAs. Most of us are just the opposite.
Your idea that all homosexuals are intelligent creatures shows how dumb you really are. Your disrespect for military personnel who didn’t create or pass DADT shows your bigotry pointed in the wrong direction.