Gen. Peter Pace of the Joint Chiefs, shown last year, said he should not have expressed a personal view that homosexual conduct was immoral.
The officer, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, re-ignited a smoldering debate on Monday over the armed services’ policy, telling the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he believed homosexual conduct was immoral and akin to adultery.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was instituted by the Pentagon after legislation was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton into law in 1993. It allows gay men and lesbians to serve in the military if they do not openly display or discuss their sexual orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts.
Since the policy was enacted and through the 2005 fiscal year, 9,488 service members have been dropped from the military under it, according to government statistics. Statistics from the 2006 fiscal year are still being compiled.
The issue was raised this year when Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs when the policy was adopted, said that conversations with military personnel had led him to change his mind.In an Op-Ed article published by The New York Times on Jan. 2, General Shalikashvili wrote that conversations with gay soldiers and marines had showed him “that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers.”
“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” General Shalikashvili wrote. “Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14pace.html?ex=1331524800&en=05cdb45b71c102ac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
The officer, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, re-ignited a smoldering debate on Monday over the armed services’ policy, telling the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he believed homosexual conduct was immoral and akin to adultery.
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was instituted by the Pentagon after legislation was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton into law in 1993. It allows gay men and lesbians to serve in the military if they do not openly display or discuss their sexual orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts.
Since the policy was enacted and through the 2005 fiscal year, 9,488 service members have been dropped from the military under it, according to government statistics. Statistics from the 2006 fiscal year are still being compiled.
The issue was raised this year when Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs when the policy was adopted, said that conversations with military personnel had led him to change his mind.In an Op-Ed article published by The New York Times on Jan. 2, General Shalikashvili wrote that conversations with gay soldiers and marines had showed him “that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers.”
“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” General Shalikashvili wrote. “Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14pace.html?ex=1331524800&en=05cdb45b71c102ac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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