The Thursday, April 17, 2008 edition of the Washington Times ran a letter to the editor from Elaine Donnelly, responding to an article by S. A. Miller titled, "Obama won't require top military picks to back gays."  The April 11 news article reported that during an interview with the gay publication The Advocate, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said that he would consider officers for appointment to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, even if they disagreed with his own view that professed homosexuals should serve in the military.  

            The text of Donnelly’s letter, which was published in full, is posted here.  This is an issue that requires close attention during the 2008 presidential campaign.

 Reprinted from the Washington Times, Editorial Page, April 17, 2008:

 'Don't ask, don't tell' and a new president

I appreciated S.A. Miller's article "Obama won't require top military picks to back gays" (Nation, Friday) but there is more to the story. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton intend to repeal the policy regarding gays in the military, known as "don't ask, don't tell."  Former President Bill Clinton imposed that convoluted and problematic policy on the military shortly after Congress rejected his attempt to allow discreet homosexuals to serve in the armed forces.

Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton also want to repeal the 1993 law that codified long-standing regulations stating that persons who engage in homosexual conduct are not eligible for military service. If that statute (Section 654, Title 10) had been given a name of its own, it might have been called the Military Personnel Eligibility Act of 1993.  The only "compromise" involved allowed Mr. Clinton to stop asking the question about homosexuality on induction forms, but the law permits that question to be reinstated at any time.

Mr. Obama and gay activist leaders cry crocodile tears about the number of military personnel who are honorably discharged after they reveal that they engage in homosexual conduct. These are a fraction of discharges for other purposes, such as weight standard violations or pregnancy. Such losses could be reduced to near zero if the Department of Defense properly explained and enforced the 1993 law.

Mr. Obama disingenuously claims he would consider appointing high-ranking officers to the Joint Chiefs of Staff even if they disagree with his views on this issue.  However, if President Obama (or a second President Clinton) successfully persuaded Congress to repeal the 1993 law, the armed forces would be ordered to follow the "civil rights model" in enforcing acceptance of homosexuals in the ranks.

Persons resisting this mandate, which would be reinforced by "diversity" programs and sensitivity training, would not be promoted to flag rank much less to high levels close to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  In 2000, Al Gore initially stated that he would not select service chiefs who were opposed to gays in the military. Mr. Gore was met with a firestorm of controversy that Mr. Obama obviously is trying to evade.

ELAINE DONNELLY

President

Center for Military Readiness

Livonia, Mich.