Activists who thought Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal was gaining momentum got a rude awakening from three of the nation’s military service chiefs on Friday. In short: the military brass is not on board with allowing gays to serve openly in the military, at least while the nation is involved in two shooting wars.
From Military.com:
WASHINGTON — The chiefs of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force do not support a repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, telling lawmakers Friday that such a move could add unnecessary stress to the force.
“The potential for damage is there,” said Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps. “A repeal would absolutely have an impact on combat units … so my concern goes back to their issues of cohesion and the burden on those units.”
The chiefs spoke during the second day of hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee, one day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the same lawmakers to act now on a repeal. On Tuesday the Pentagon released details of its review of the issue, recommending a slow but deliberate pace of training and policy changes to allow gay troops to serve openly.
But the Army and Marine Corps leaders in particular said they did not agree with the assessment that a dramatic policy change would have only limited impact on troops’ morale and mission effectiveness. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said a repeal would “add another level of stress to an already stretched force” and “be more difficult for the Army than the report suggests.”
All four service chiefs said they believe a repeal of the 17-year-old law will take place in coming years. But while Adm. Gary Roughead recommended Congress act on a repeal now and Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz pushed for a repeal no sooner than 2012, both Casey and Amos said lawmakers should wait until the pressures of combat operations overseas are not weighing on troops’ minds.Fueling the chiefs’ concerns was the disparity between the opinions of most troops and their families, who overwhelmingly seemed unconcerned about repeal in the recent comprehensive Pentagon survey, and the opinions of troops actually engaged in combat:
A survey conducted as part of the repeal study showed that fewer than a third of troops believe repealing the law would hurt the mission focus or effectiveness.
But among troops from Army combat units, 48 percent predicted a repeal would negatively affect their team’s ability to “work together to get the job done.” That number rose to 58 percent among Marine combat units. Sixty percent of the combat Marines and 49 percent of combat soldiers said they would not be able to trust an openly gay colleague.
Amos said he could not support the change in military policy “as long as we have forces involved in combat,” because of the demands already placed on those units.And there was also significant resistance to changing the policy among military chaplains, some of whom indicated in the survey that they would leave the service if the policy is repealed.
Some Republican lawmakers had indicated they would be open to voting for repeal, but Olympia Snowe of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, two leading targets for cross-over votes, later indicated they would only vote for repeal if Democrats relent on extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich. And John McCain, who has become the leading voice on opposing repeal, is standing firm on his position. Meanwhile, McCain is emerging as a possible mover on getting the START treaty ratified, since he could be a key lever in pushing his fellow Arizona Republican, John Kyl, to relent. That potential White House deal with President Obama’s chief adversary in the Senate could spell doom for DADT repeal if a comprehensive tax-START deal is cut.
Some Democrats, along with recalcitrant Republicans, are questioning why the START treaty is such a priority for the White House now, with so little time left in the lame duck session. But it seems that the same question could be asked about DADT, which is a priority of gay rights activists, but nowhere near at the top of the list within the military itself, which is focused on winding down operations in Iraq and making progress in the mess that is Afghanistan. Even inside the military, troops don’t necessarily care about gays in their ranks, but liberals fail to recognize the inherently conservative, largely evangelical Christian and closed culture of the military, which wouldn’t encourage open homosexual conduct even if the ban was listed. That may not be fair, but the military isn’t fair (President Obama just pardoned nine people including one who was convicted in the military of both drug possession, and adultery…) and it’s also incredibly resistant to change — which is how we wound up with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the first place.
Still, for gay rights groups, DADT is THE top priority they want the president focused on, while other Democrats wish he’d drop everything else and focus on jobs — and on salvaging the holidays for 2 million people about to lose their unemployment benefits — and Hispanic constituents want to see the DREAM Act gotten done before Republicans take over the House.)
It all adds up to a fine mess, with competing interest groups and competing priorities for the White House, and the lame duck Congress, which is quickly running out of time.
BY The Reid Report
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