Tuesday, November 30, 2010

It's Long Past Time
The Pentagon has released its much-anticipated report detailing the potential impact of repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. So, how will it effect the military if gay and lesbian soldiers were allowed to serve openly? Not much at all.
The Pentagon has concluded that allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the United States armed forces presents a low risk to the military’s effectiveness, even at a time of war, and that 70 percent of service members believe that the impact of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law would be either positive, mixed or of no consequence at all.
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The report also found that a majority — 69 percent — believed they had already worked with a gay man or woman, and of those the vast majority — 92 percent — reported that the unit’s ability to work together was very good, good or “neither good nor poor.”
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“We are both convinced that our military can do this, even during this time of war,” Mr. Johnson and General Ham wrote. “We do not underestimate the challenges in implementing a change in the law, but neither should we underestimate the ability of our extraordinarily dedicated service men and women to adapt to such change and continue to provide our nation with the military capability to accomplish any mission.”
Secretary Gates in a press conference this afternoon went a step further, urging Congress to act immediately to change the policy. There's no reason for Republicans to delay any longer. Military leadership is behind the move. Just do it, already. As the report states, much of the lingering opposition within the armed services is "driven by misperceptions and stereotypes...(that) were exaggerated and not consistent with the reported experiences of many service members."

1 comment:

Lisa Davis said...

McCrap will find a way to nullify the report and the announcement. he thinks he is THE only expert on being a combat soldier...LOL