Interesting news.
US Army leaders oppose suspensions of gay firings. Some believe that this method will jeopardize the entire process to repeal the policy.
Both Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey, Jr., testified on Tuesday that they oppose such a moratorium during the nearly year-long planned repeal implementation review.Neither McHugh nor Casey even offered the full-throated support to a repeal of the policy that was given to senators earlier this month by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The testimony came as part of Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the Army's budget request and, specifically, in response to a question by Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and follow-up questioning by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who announced on Monday that he would be taking the lead on the Senate bill to repeal the policy.
Although McHugh said he ''can't see that we would object'' to a moratorium ''if it were the will of the Congress,'' he also said, when pressed further, that his personal ''preference would be that we would not enact a moratorium.''
Speaking more strongly against a moratorium, Casey told the senators that a moratorium ''would complicate the whole process'' of repeal implementation. ''Anything that complicates it more, I would oppose that,'' he reiterated.
I want to believe they are right in this issue. I will trust their judgment and the process.
I remember when I joined the national guard at 19. I was in the initial orientation, doing the physical etc and then the form was placed in front of me to sign under penalty of perjury that I was not a homosexual and the ramifications if I was. Tough moment for a kid.
ReplyDelete