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'Don't ask, don't tell' policy should be lifted, top military officer says

Do you think people should be allowed to serve in the military if they are openly gay?

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By ANNE FLAHERTY and ANNE GEARAN
Associated Press Updated 12:52 AM Wednesday, February 3, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military's top uniformed officer declared Tuesday that gays should be allowed to serve openly in uniform, arguing that it is "the right thing to do."

Adm. Mike Mullen's statement was the strongest yet from the Pentagon on this volatile issue, although he stressed that he was "speaking for myself and myself only." He told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday he is deeply troubled by a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

Mullen said he knows many will disagree about abandoning the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and said there are practical obstacles to lifting the 1993 ban. But he said he thinks the military can handle it. Mullen is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief military adviser to President Barack Obama.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the panel he is tapping his chief legal adviser and a four-star Army general to lead a landmark study on how the military would lift its ban on openly gay service members.

Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Gen. Carter Ham, who leads Army forces in Europe, will conduct the yearlong assessment.

Gates' announcement marked a measured step toward President Barack Obama's goal of eliminating the military's policy against gays, which is based on a 1993 law.

Ham is a former enlisted infantryman who rose to command troops in northern Iraq. Johnson, the Pentagon's general counsel, played an integral role in the effort to close the military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

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