The Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Meh Moment

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-23 09:51:00 UTC
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U.S. ArmyLeaders from the U.S. Army testified before Congress this morning, covering the subject of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And while it wasn't all bad news, it wasn't testimony worth throwing a parade over, either.

Speaking before a row of U.S. Senators, Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey, said that while they aren't necessarily opposed to President Barack Obama's efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," they also don't want to see a moratorium put in place that would stop gay soldiers from being fired. And that deserves a royal "Meh."

Aubrey Sarvis, the Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), said that despite the opposition to a moratorium, there's still some reason for optimism.

"Neither Gen. Casey nor Gen. Schwartz expressed opposition to the plan their bosses -- Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen -- put before them earlier this month. We expect they will work within the framework the Pentagon has laid out.  There will continue to be differences around the margins, but, at the end of the day, we expect the Chiefs will salute the commander in chief, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen," Davis said.

OK, there might some optimism there. Still, the reality of the situation is that two Army officials went on record today and said that discrimination would be too complicated to remove from the U.S. Armed Forces at the moment. So while a moratorium on gay firings may be on the margins of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal, the fact is that without a moratorium, folks will still be fired, the U.S. military will lose well-qualified soldiers, and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will continue to ruin lives while debate and government action crawls along.

Meh, indeed.

Photo credit: U.S. Army

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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