What is Admiral Mullen's position on DADT?

[bluestateguy]

He actually sounded pretty supportive of changing the policy at the hearing today as I was listening on the radio.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it?

[Jennicut]

1. Sounds like he is for repealing it, which is a good sign.

Gates is also open to it. Now just getting the rest of the heads of the military on board is key...some are not so open to it.



February 2, 2010 12:48 PM
Mullen: Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Right Thing to Do"

Posted by Brian Montopoli

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that he supports ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which bans gays from serving openly in the military.

"Mr. Chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal and professional belief that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Mullen said. "No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity -- theirs as individuals and ours as an institution." http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/02/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6166493.shtml

[babylonsister]

2. Top uniformed officer: Gay ban should be lifted

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MILITARY_GAYS?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

ANNE FLAHERTY and ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press Writers



Top uniformed officer: Gay ban should be lifted


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The military's top uniformed officer declared Tuesday that gays should be allowed to serve openly in uniform, arguing that it is "the right thing to do."

Adm. Mike Mullen's statement was the strongest yet from the uniformed military on this volatile issue, although he stressed that he was "speaking for myself and myself only." He told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday he is deeply troubled by a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

Mullen said he knows many will disagree about abandoning the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and said there are practical obstacles to lifting the 1993 ban. But he said he thinks the military can handle it. Mullen is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief military adviser to President Barack Obama.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the panel he is tapping his chief legal adviser and a four-star Army general to lead a landmark study on how the military would lift its ban on openly gay service members.

Pentagon counsel Jeh Johnson and Gen. Carter Ham, who leads Army forces in Europe, will conduct the yearlong assessment.

Sen. John McCain, the ranking committtee Republican, publicly bristled at the Pentagon's decision to launch a yearlong study into allowing gays to serve, saying he is "deeply disappointed" and calling the assessment "clearly biased" because it presumes the law should be changed.

McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the current policy is not ideal, but that it has been effective.

McCain said he wanted to hear more from the military on this issue. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that lawmakers keep the intensity of debate in tow until the military can get a better handle on how to proceed. He told the panel: "Keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind."

Ham is a former enlisted infantryman who rose through the ranks to eventually command troops in northern Iraq in 2004 and hold senior positions within the Joint Staff. Recently, he helped conduct an investigation into the shootings by a soldier at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

As the Pentagon's top legal counsel, Johnson has played an integral role into the effort to try to close the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Gates' announcement marked a measured step toward President Barack Obama's goal of eliminating the military's policy against gays, which is based on a 1993 law.

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Copyright 2008 Associated Press

[11 Bravo]

5. And yet tonight I guarantee Fox will have some retired light colonel "expert" on ...

explaining why gay servicemen and women are "contrary to good order and discipline". All in the name of "balance" of course. And they will also pretend that the two opinions should carry equal weight. Fuck Fox, fuck Roger Ailes, and fuck Ruppert Murdoch, preferably with something jagged.

[Solly Mack]

3. He is for ending it and he gave sound reasons for doing so.

And he gave personal reasons for doing so.

[timeforpeace]

4. Don't ask.