Gates, Mullen, Say, "No!" to Repealing Don't Ask Dont' Tell

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Gates Letter Not To Repeal DADT Draws Fire

Leading gay advocacy groups and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are criticizing comments made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urging Congress not to repeal the military's so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

In a letter to the House Armed Services Committee, both military officials restated their opposition to calls by some Congressional Democrats to repeal the ban before a Pentagon review ends this December. They also resisted a moratorium that would prevent gay servicemembers from being discharged while Congress debates a possible repeal of the law.

Both Gates and Mullen have stated their opposition since the Obama administration announced its desire to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. But today’s letter contains their strongest language to date.

“I believe in the strongest possible terms that the Department must, prior to any legislative action, be allowed the opportunity to conduct a thorough, objective, and systematic assessment of the impact of such a policy change: develop an attentive comprehensive implementation plan, and provide the President and the Congress with the results of this effort in order to ensure that this step is taken in the most informed and effective manner.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/04/gates-letter-not-to-repeal-dadt-draws-fire.html

[Obama 2012 1,714]

What's wrong with addressing impact first?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What's wrong with addressing impact first?

In a statement the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay advocacy group, criticized the letter saying it, “is inconceivable that the Secretary of Defense would so blatantly undermine the Commander-in-Chief’s policy commitment” to end the ban, and that “there is no reason that Congress cannot move forward with repeal while the Pentagon’s review of how – not if – to end the ban on open service continues apace."

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said the letter seemed to indicate “The President of the United States appears to have reversed himself” from his statement at this year’s State of the Union to seek Congressional action to repeal the ban this year. The advocacy group also said it “repudiates” what it called a “delay game plan”.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also said in a statement that she looked forward to the review’s report, but that “in the meantime, the Administration should immediately place a moratorium on dismissals under this policy until the review has been completed and Congress has acted.”

Civilians leaders control the military, not vice-versa. Time for the Pentagon and the JCS to get that into their pea sized brains. Sniffing all that Kiwi rots your brain.