Yet another domino falls:
Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation’s top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law he helped shepherd in.
“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.”
(…)
When Mr. Clinton tried to end the ban on gay soldiers, General Powell was the Joint Chiefs chairman and opposed the move on the grounds that it would undermine discipline and order in the military but he supported the “don’t ask” compromise. In his statement on Wednesday, General Powell said “the principal issue has always been the effectiveness of the Armed Forces and order and discipline in the ranks.”
He noted that he has said for the past two years that it was “time for the law to be reviewed,” but his new statement of unequivocal support for the effort by Mr. Gates and Admiral Mullen could be an important factor as the debate moves forward this year
When the guy who helped draft the policy calls for its repeal, that’s saying something.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Is the same thing true of Bob Barr’s reversal of position on the Defense of Marriage Act?
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Go tell it on the mountain
Don’t ask don’t tell is gone.
Go tell it to Mohammed.
I’m sure he’ll play along.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:43 am
There is no ground swell of support for change to the current policy from the citizens, nor from the ranks of our military.
Only the delusional perfumed princes of the Pentagon seem to believe that there is a sudden need for this change.
Ironic that Powell, who owes his entire career to racial quota promotions (something he has openly admitted) wants to create yet another “protected class” within our military. The homosexuals will then be rewarded with special quotas for recruitment and promotion, so that our military can, instead of becoming a more lethal fighting force, have an arbitrarily selected number of lesbians and homosexual men in leadership positions, so that the worshipers of social engineering can coo over having a force structure that, “looks like America.”
America doesn’t want this policy changed and neither do the current active duty personnel.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Well, before they repeal “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and allow open homosexuals to serve, Congress has to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to make sodomy legal……
February 4th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Under Lawrence v. Texas, those laws are clearly unconstitutional
February 5th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Integrating gays in the military is just as important as integrating women. Unless, you care about defense more than politics.