John McCain's DADT Repeal Concerns Dismissed By Robert Gates
PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 26, 2010
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has rejected Arizona Senator John
McCain's suggestion to put repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” up for a vote,
The Hill reported.
McCain, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has dismissed an upcoming Pentagon report on how to
implement repeal, saying that he wanted the Pentagon to study “the
effects on morale and battle effectiveness” on troops if the ban on gays
serving openly is lifted. He also said he wanted the opinions of the
service chiefs, who mostly oppose repeal of the Clinton-era law, to
weigh more heavily.
“I do not believe that military policy decisions – on this or any other
subject – should be made through a referendum on Servicemembers,”
Gates wrote to McCain in a letter dated October 25 but only recently
made public.
According to unnamed Washington Post sources, the report will show
that a large majority (more than 70 percent) of troops are okay serving
alongside openly gay troops.
Gates said he sought out the opinions of members of the military to
better “understand how a change in DADT policy may impact unit
cohesion, military readiness and effectiveness, recruiting and
retention, and family readiness.”
“This will ensure that we can properly advise the President and the
Congress on the impacts of a repeal and develop an implementation
plan that appropriately addresses any such impacts,” Gates wrote.
the Senate next week. In an apparent nod to McCain, Committee
Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, is also seeking the
advice of the four service chiefs touted by McCain.
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