The American Legion & VFW Say No to Ending DADT
Here is the key, I can only hope more people understand this simple idea: “what is considered acceptable by civilians must not be blindly imposed on a military institution that the great majority of society chooses not to join.”
If those non-gays supporting the end of DADT cannot accept the opinions of the veterans that fought our wars, then I believe their support for ending DADT is made with a bias that cares less about the combat readiness of our forces and the defense of liberty than they do political correctness and social experimentation.
These two groups said they will keep an open mind to the results of the most recent investigation into the wisdom of ending DADT, but no matter what, with two ongoing wars this is not the time.
The nation’s two most prominent veterans groups have come out in opposition to President Obama’s plan to end the military’s long-standing ban on open homosexuals in the ranks.
The opposition from the American Legion, the largest American veterans group, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, comes as the White House has begun a push in Congress to repeal the law this year.
Pro-gay groups received a significant boost Tuesday when the U.S.‘s highest-ranking military officials, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, told the Senate Armed Services Committee they support ending the gay ban, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Stiff opposition is expected, and spokesmen for the VFW and the Legion told The Washington Times on Wednesday their groups do not want to see military readiness disrupted while the armed forces are fighting two wars. The two groups have more than 4 million members combined.
“We support ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and the position is, now, since we are still fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, now is not the time to extend ourselves with a new social-engineering project,” Legion spokesman Joe March said. “We expect the Pentagon will very carefully examine the implications before changing any policies to maintain that highest state of readiness.”
“The VFW is fully aware that societal norms regarding homosexuality have changed since the 1993 passage of [the ban], but what is considered acceptable by civilians must not be blindly imposed on a military institution that the great majority of society chooses not to join,” spokesman Joe Davis said.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/04/veterans-groups-rap-push-to-end-military-gay-ban/






