U.S. military gay ban should stay for now, generals say

U.S. military gay ban should stay for now, generals say

The U.S. military ban repeal on gay servicemen and women should not be implemented at this time according to U.S. military generals. But they said the organization can handle the repeal of the ban if told by Congress. The top brass in the U.S. Marines wants to prioritize preparing and engaging in combat operations overseas before lifting the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. An estimated half of the Marine Corps is currently committed to combat operations in Afghanistan.

“My recommendation is that we should not implement repeal at this time,” said Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos before the Senate Armed Forces Committee today in Washington. General Norton Schwartz of the Airforce and General George Casey of the Army said that lifting the ban now creates a “moderate” risk to the effectiveness and safety of American troops, contrary to a report yesterday submitted by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates characterizing the risk as low. U.S. troops are planning to pull out of Afghanistan in July.

General Schwartz proposed that the military ban on gays in active service be delayed until 2012 to have adequate time for training and education. General Casey meanwhile, reaffirmed his support to repeal the gay ban, but said a delay may be the best thing to do.

“It is difficult for me, as a member of the Joint Chiefs, to recommend placing any additional discretionary demands on our leadership cadres in Afghanistan at this particularly challenging time,” Gen. Schwartz said.

Critics of the repeal of the U.S. military gay ban said that the survey made by the Defense Department showed that many Marines and other combat personnel consider a repeal as harmful to the effectiveness of military operations.

Posted by James Fried on Sunday December 05 2010, 9:09 PM EST. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0