Adm. Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday
that he has advised the president "to move in a measured
way" on overturning the military's gay ban, a policy
known as "don't ask, don't tell."
"It's very
clear what President Obama's intent here is. He intends to
see this law changed," Admiral Mullen said on CNN's
State of the Union With John King
. "I've had conversations with him about that. What
I've discussed in terms of the future is I think we need to
move in a measured way. We're at a time when we're
fighting two conflicts. There's a great deal of pressure on
our forces."
His comments are the
most recent indication that talks about the policy change are
taking place between President Barack Obama and military
leadership. Earlier last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said Pentagon lawyers were considering alternative ways for the
policy to be implemented within the Department of Defense.
"Secretary Gates
spoke recently about reviewing the policy to make sure that we
were executing it in the most humane way possible," Mullen
said of the Defense secretary's statement.
"The strategic
intent is clear," Mullen repeated. "I am internally
discussing this with my staff -- on how to go forward, and what
the possible implementation steps could be. I haven't done
any kind of extensive review. And what I feel most obligated
about is to make sure I tell the president, you know, my --
give the president my best advice, should this law change, on
the impact on our people and their families at these very
challenging times."
Mullen's remarks
outraged many LGBT advocates, including former adviser to
President Bill Clinton, Richard Socarides.
"Mullen's
comments are offensive and insulting. It's shocking that
the civilian leadership allows him to talk about a group of
Americans as if we were second-class citizens," Socarides
was quoted as
saying on Americablog.com
. "How can you advocate a measured approach to equality?
Deliberate is what I'm looking for. Deliberate is what we
were promised. And his comments about 'the impact [of a
policy change] on our people and their families' is
outrageous. What about the impact of the current policy on gay
service members? Are they not 'his people.' Not to
mention the chilling effect official, government-sanctioned
discrimination has on all of us as Americans."
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