Military's Top Brass Oppose "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

It appears that the inevitable repeal of the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy concerning gays in the military may at long last be at hand. Military officials at the highest levels of every military branch were quoted on Tuesday as being opposed to the policy instituted by congress in 1993 requiring homosexuals to keep their sexual orientation a secret if the wished to serve in the military. In recent years, this policy has led to the discharge of countless homosexual soldiers who simply wished to serve their country, including military personnel who were performing mission critical duties, such Arabic translators.

When the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was first put into place during the Clinton administration, it was done so as a compromise between progressives seeking to further gay rights and conservatives who harbored a wide range of complicated feelings concerning homosexuality, particularly when it came to military service. Democrats accepted the compromise as a stepping stone toward broader acceptance of homosexuals in the military and assured supporters that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy would be take out of place in due course. Now that military's top officials are openly calling for the ban on homosexual's serving in the military to be lifted, it is up to Congress to act.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put it best in a statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee:

"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."

Well said.