Wednesday's
New York Times
editorial page suggested that President Barack Obama should
find a way to temporarily suspend discharges of gay and lesbian
soldiers.
Wednesday's
New York Times
editorial page suggested that President Barack Obama should
find a way to temporarily suspend discharges of gay and lesbian
soldiers.
"President Obama
should see if there is indeed any action he could take on his
own while awaiting the military's assessment," the
Times
concludes. "In the end, it will be up to Congress to root
out 'don't ask, don't tell' by overturning the law that
brought it about."
The editorial
notes that thousands of gay military personnel, including
highly skilled interpreters and intelligence analysts, have
been discharged under the military's gay ban, known as
"don't ask, don't tell," at a time when the
armed forces are stretched especially thin.
"Advocates for gay
soldiers believe that the administration, on its own, has the
authority to prevent the discharge of gay people, perhaps by
issuing 'stop-loss' orders such as those used to keep
troops serving past their original commitments in Iraq -- many
unwillingly," writes the
Times'
editorial board in the unsigned opinion piece
.
"How much better to use the power to prevent the loss of
gay service members eager to keep serving."
The editorial also
notes that although Obama said during the campaign that he
would overturn the ban, "he has made no move beyond asking
the Pentagon to assess the implications."
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