Washington, March 26: The Pentagon issued new rules on Thursday to make it harder for the U.S. military to discharge gay personnel, an interim step to ease enforcement of the existing “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while Congress considers repealing it.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the directives were the result of a 45-day review of what the Pentagon can do in the short term within the confines of existing law to allow implementation in a “fair and more appropriate manner.”
He said the goal was to bring “a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved.”
President Barack Obama called for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in his State of the Union address in January, putting a spotlight on a hot-button issue before congressional elections in November.
Many gay activists were frustrated last year that Obama had not moved quickly to carry out a promise to overturn the policy, which bars homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Gays and lesbians strongly backed Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.
The directives from Gates raised the rank of those allowed to launch investigations against suspected violators of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
They also raised the level for what constitutes “credible” information to start an inquiry and curbed the use of testimony from doctors, lawyers and clergy members in discharge cases.
To limit expulsions of servicemen and women “outed” by third parties, the directives require their information be given under oath. The use of “overheard statements and hearsay” in “don’t ask, don’t tell” cases will also be discouraged.
“These modifications will take effect immediately and will apply to all open and future cases,” Gates said.
‘A lot of unanswered questions’
Critics say the Pentagon has been dragging its feet in response to Obama’s call to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Gates defended the Pentagon’s pace and warned against “risky” efforts advocated by some lawmakers to implement a moratorium or an outright repeal of the policy before the Pentagon completes a fuller review by Dec. 1.
While the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has supported a repeal, several prominent officers and lawmakers have questioned lifting the ban at a time when the U.S. military is stretched by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Underscoring the divisions, Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, a senior Army commander, drew a stinging rebuke from Gates and Mullen for urging service members to write to their lawmakers to try to stop this “ill-advised” repeal.
People who oppose allowing gays to serve openly in the military argue it would harm morale, undermine unit cohesion and hurt good order and discipline in the ranks.
Advocates of a repeal say those fears are unfounded and that the existing policy is counterproductive and unfair.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions in terms of the implementation of this,” Gates told a news conference. “Doing it hastily is very risky and I think does not address some of the concerns that have been expressed.”
Mullen concurred, saying that “doing it with ease could easily generate a very bad outcome.”
Nathaniel Frank of the Palm Center, a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara, said the changes announced by Gates “could create a situation where there is openly gay service” in the military.
“This does show a good faith effort by the Pentagon to relax the ban but the ultimate impact will depend on how and whether it is enforced,” Frank said. “History gives us cause to worry.”
–Agencies