Congress should
repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law because the
presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine
the ability to fight and win, according to a new study
released by a California-based research center.
The study was
conducted by four retired military officers, including the
three-star Air Force lieutenant general who in early 1993
was tasked with implementing President Clinton's
policy that the military stop questioning recruits on
their sexual orientation.
"Evidence shows
that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is
unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order,
discipline, or cohesion," the officers stated.
To support its
contention, the panel points to the British and Israeli
militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without
hurting the effectiveness of combat operations.
Undermining unit
cohesion was a determining factor when Congress passed
the 1993 law, intended to keep the military from asking
recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service
members can't say they are gay or bisexual, engage in
homosexual activity, or marry a member of the same
sex.
Supporters of the
ban contend there is still no empirical evidence that
allowing gays to serve openly won't hurt combat
effectiveness.
"The issue is
trust and confidence" among members of a unit, said
Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, who retired in 1993 after working
on the issue for the Army. When some people with a
different sexual orientation are "in a close combat
environment, it results in a lack of trust," he said.
The study was
sponsored by the Michael D. Palm Center at the University
of California at Santa Barbara, which said it picked the
panel members to give a bipartisan representation of
the different service branches. According to its
website, the Palm Center "is committed to keeping
researchers, journalists, and the general public informed of
the latest developments in the 'don't ask, don't tell'
policy debate."
Two of the
officers on the panel have endorsed Democratic candidates
since leaving the military -- Army lieutenant
general Robert Gard, who supports Barack Obama,
and Marine Corps general Hugh Aitken, who backed
Clinton in 1996.
Air Force
lieutenant general Robert Minter Alexander, a Republican,
was assigned in 1993 to a high-level panel established
by the Defense Department to examine the issue of gays
in the military. At one point, he signed an order that
prohibited the military from asking a recruit's sexual
orientation.
Alexander said at
the time he was simply trying to carry out the
president's orders and not take a position. But he now
believes the law should be repealed because it assumes
the existence of gays in the military is disruptive to
units even though cultural attitudes are changing.
Further, the
Defense Department and not Congress should be in charge of
regulating sexual misconduct within the military, he said.
"Who else can
better judge whether it's a threat to good order and
discipline?" Alexander asked.
Navy vice admiral
Jack Shanahan said he had no opinion on the issue when
he joined the panel, having never confronted it in his
35-year military career. A self-described Republican
who opposes the Bush administration's handling of the
Iraq war, Shanahan said he was struck by the loss of
personal integrity required by individuals to carry out
"don't ask, don't tell."
"Everyone was
living a big lie - the homosexuals were trying to hide
their sexual orientation and the commanders were looking the
other way because they didn't want to disrupt
operations by trying to enforce the law," he said.
(Anne Flaherty, AP)
