is this POS coming out of the closet or what???
Posted on 01/02/2007 4:12:33 PM PST by RetiredArmy
General Shalikashvili: Let Gays Serve in Military
The Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays says he no longer opposes allowing them to serve openly.
John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation's top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units. He said he has changed his mind after meeting with gay servicemen.
"These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers," Shalikashvili wrote in an opinion piece in Tuesday's New York Times.
His view could carry weight at a time when advocates of lifting the restriction on gay service members argue that the military - under the strain of fighting two wars - can ill-afford to exclude any qualified volunteers. It's not clear, however, how much enthusiasm Congress will have for pressing the matter. The current policy, based on legislation passed by Congress in 1993 after a firestorm of debate, states that gays and lesbians may serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientation private.
Commanders may not ask, and gay service members may not tell. Over the years thousands have been dismissed under this policy.
Shalikashvili is not the first former senior military officer to change his mind about gays in the military, though he is perhaps the most prominent. John Hutson, a retired two-star Navy admiral who was the Navy's top lawyer, said Tuesday he thinks the nation has undergone so much cultural change over the past decade that allowing gays to serve openly in the military would enhance rather than weaken the cohesion of fighting units.
"I think it will absolutely happen," Hutson said in a telephone interview, but probably not during the Bush administration.
Shalikashvili said he expects fierce debate over gays in the military this year as Congress considers President Bush's call for expanding the size of the Army, which is stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shalikashvili cautioned, however, against pushing for repeal of the ban early in the new Congress, which he said should be focused on urgent priorities like developing a better strategy in Iraq and healing divisions over the war.
"Fighting early in this Congress to lift the ban on openly gay service members is not likely to add to that healing and it risks alienating people whose support is needed to get this country on the right track," he wrote in the Times article.
In explaining his shift on the issue, Shalikashvili also cited a new Zogby poll, commissioned by the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, of 545 U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It reported that three quarters said they were comfortable around gay men and lesbians.
The poll, published in December, also said 37 percent opposed allowing gays to serve openly, while 26 percent said they should be allowed and 37 percent were unsure or neutral. Of those who said they were certain that a member of their unit was gay or lesbian, two-thirds did not believe it hurt morale.
C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocate for gay rights, called Shalikashvili's article "enormously significant." Osburn said it reflects a growing trend of military leaders supporting repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/john-malchase-david-shalikashvili/
Born in Poland. I believe he was drafted the same year as Elvis.
The German song "Ich hatte einen Kameraden" is a requiem to the fallen brave and is sung at soldier's funerals by the armies of many nations.
How it got mixed up in this thread I don't know.
Guess they can really suck-up to the brass now. /s
Oy, the black Berets... This was probably the worst idea ever in the history of Uniforms. Our Soldiers are absolute Heroes, and they deserve to wear overseas and visor caps, not frenchy Berets. Glad the Marines stayed away from them.
I agree... put the gays on point
Yeah, nothing in congress is going to come on this. Status quo.
There may be a connection. From the bio in 41:
"He improved his English, the story goes, by watching John Wayne films."
Might as well let them in...since we seem to be so PC we can't let our soldiers kill terrorists with bullets perhaps we would have more success letting a gay battalion "compromise" those big stud moozies in the eyes of their religion - Islam frowns on boys fooling around don't ya know.
You got me. It must be "the Twilight Zone". Some things are beyond our imagination!
Would it kill you to actually read the article before commenting?
"John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation's top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment"
Don't Ask - Don't Unzip
I remember when don't ask don't tell was implemented. Not only was the military inundated with perverts but the communities outside the bases were as well.
is this POS coming out of the closet or what???
I am reminded of a story about Lytton Strachey, the famous British author of "Eminent Victorians." Strachey was a flaming homosexual, and when he learned that strong and robust German troops might invade England he said that he would be willing to "interpose my poor body" to confront them.
New Cadance song:
"I'm in the army and I'm gay,
that don't mean I swish and sway!"
This "General" needs to retire. ASAP
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