Obama Is In No Rush To Repeal 'Don't Ask Don't Tell': Boston Globe

The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to study the implications for national security and enlist more support in Congress before trying to overturn the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law and allow gays to serve openly in the military, according to people involved in the discussions.

They said Obama, who pledged during the campaign to overturn the law, does not want to ask lawmakers to do so until the military has completed a comprehensive assessment of the impact that such a move would have on military discipline. Then, the president hopes to be able to make a case to members of both parties that overturning the 1993 law would be in the best interest of national security.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Geranium]

To bad he didn't give the same kind of thought over the closing of Gitmo.

[ThePeacemakers]

Be glad...bec­ause if the defense contractors have their way the US will be in Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan and pretty soon they're going to need new soldiers.
Can u say draft? The Repubs would love to vote for a draft, especially under a Democratic Administration (protests would be directed at them).


As it stands now: this is the best "out" (no pun intended) that could save the lives of youth who don't want to be statistics of the defense dept. Just say very loudly that you are gay. Wink at the commanding officers.
So until we really see how these conflicts pan out...
Shhhhh....­let it go.

[GingerB]

BS. As CinC, he could write the order to stop DADT tomorrow. I'm not buying it, President Obama. No more studies, no more delays. The current policy is discriminatory. Lose it.

[texaslib82]

Where's the outrage over this? Caved in...?

[PlaceboStudman]

As I said in another post about this same topic, if President Obama or congress, or whomever needs another damned study to explore the feasability of gays in the military, all they need do is to examine the success of those countries for whom gays in the military isnt even an issue anymore.

A bigger question I have, that really goes to the root of the problem is, why are there no studies regarding religion in the military? The old cliche goes, "there are no athiests in a foxhole", but frankly that is far from true. It is the very nature of war, and the conflicts that have been waged in the name of God that have solidified my position as an Atheist.

There should also be a study concerning the education of those entering the military. It is the uneducated enlisted men and women who are propogating the bigotry and hatred that exists in the military against gays, and now Muslims. While the officers and other educated people in the upper eschalons of the military rarely hold these ignorant and bigoted beliefs, unless they're former enlisted men who worked their way up through the ranks....

[Allwx]

I'm an Army retiree, Vietnam vet. I knew many gay people, both men and women, during my years in the Army. I knew they were gay because they made no particular secret about it. They were good soldiers, and were accepted. I see no problem with so-called gay people being in the armed services. I'm pretty sure President Obama wants to end this discrimination right away, but he learned the hard lesson that President Clinton learned, when he made it the very first priority of his early first term, and ran into stiff opposition from Congress and the armed services leadership. Don't Ask Don't Tell was the embarrassing result.

A similar lesson was learned by President Carter, who had made a campaign promise to pull our forces out of South Korea, and attempted to start that process almost immediately after his election. A mini-rebellion among high ranking officers as well as members of Congress, caused him to stage an embarrassing retreat. President Obama doesn't want to endure a similar embarrassment so early in his term. He is wise to let the military study the issue and put forth recommendations, while he gets his full team in place, and deals with more pressing issues, in the short term.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

Change we can believe in right folks?

[clearthinker2008]

Did you even read the article or you just felt like using that tired "I'm trying to be clever so I'll say Change we can believe in..." my money is on you not reading the article.

[martymartymarty]

There shouldn't be "hurry" to it, it needs to be carefully evaluated because as much as the GLBT community sees it as unnecessary, as regards the overall morale and security of the armed forces in general it may be otherwise. Obama will approach it without any hysteria and will provide the right solution for these times. In the mean time, it should be argued again both pro and con. The military has its own day-to-day culture, those of us from outside should never assume we know what is right in that setting unless we have been in it. Obama hasn't but will listen to those who have.