By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: November 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has concluded that allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the United States armed forces presents a low risk to the military’s effectiveness, even at a time of war, and that 70 percent of surveyed service members believe that the impact on their units would be positive, mixed or of no consequence at all….
At a news conference on Tuesday announcing the release of the report, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said repeal “would not be the wrenching, traumatic change that many have feared and predicted.” He said it was a “matter of urgency” that the lame-duck Senate vote in the next weeks to repeal the law.
If not, Mr. Gates predicted fights in the courts and the possibility that the repeal would be “imposed immediately by judicial fiat.”…
Mr. Obama, who campaigned for president on a promise to repeal the law, hailed the study. “Today’s report confirms that a strong majority of our military men and women and their families — more than two-thirds — are prepared to serve alongside Americans who are openly gay and lesbian,” he said in a statement….
The House passed its version of a repeal of the law this past summer, but prospects for passage in the Senate remain uncertain, with time running out this year. Mr. Gates, Admiral Mullen, Mr. Johnson and General Ham are scheduled to testify on the report to the Senate on Thursday, but a more important session will come on Friday, when the Senate Armed Services Committee is to hear testimony from the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the commandants of the Marines and the Coast Guard….
Read the entire article here.
It will certainly be interesting to watch the Senate for the remainder of this week and next week. John McCain [R- Arizona] is left scratching his head and looking for a way out of this. But it seems that the military are saying that it is doable and Obama is going through the motions of supporting the repeal right now. So far, so good! I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope we have the votes!!! But it is like Mr. Gates said, if not, the courts can do it!























