McCain On DADT: ?I Will Be Glad To Listen To The Views Of Military Leaders?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on February 5th, 2010 5:37 am by HL
McCain On DADT: ?I Will Be Glad To Listen To The Views Of Military Leaders?
In October 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that “the day that the leadership of the military comes to” and says the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy “ought to change,” he would “seriously” consider changing it. In an interview with the Washington Blade in 2008, he said he would “defer to our military commanders” […]
In October 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that “the day that the leadership of the military comes to” and says the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy “ought to change,” he would “seriously” consider changing it. In an interview with the Washington Blade in 2008, he said he would “defer to our military commanders” on the issue.
But in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, McCain bristled when the Pentagon’s top military and civilian leaders, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, announced they were in favor of overturning the policy. “I’m happy to say we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, despite your efforts to repeal it in many respects by fiat,” said McCain.
In an interview on Bill Bennett’s radio show today, McCain claimed “the policy is working” and repeated his opposition to repealing, but claimed that he would “be glad to listen to the views of military leaders”:
MCCAIN: Look, the policy is working. I talk to military all the time. I have a lot of contact with them. The policy is working and the president made a commitment in his campaign that he would reverse it and the president then made the announcement that wants it reversed. And it is a law. It has to be changed. So Admiral Mullen said, speaking for himself only, he thought it ought to be reversed and of course Secretary Gates said that. I do not. I do not know what the other military leadership wants. I know that I have a letter signed by over a thousand retired admirals and generals that said they don’t want it reversed. And so, I will be glad to listen to the views of military leaders. I always have. But I’m not changing my position in support of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell unless there is the significant support for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And I would remind you that we’re in two wars. You know that and our listeners know that. And do we need, don’t we need a serious assessment of the effect on morale or battle and combat effectiveness before we go forward with a reversal in a campaigning, carrying out an Obama campaign.
Listen here:
On Fox News last night, McCain also said that he was hoping “to get the opinion from our military leadership,’ saying that “If they can show me the evidence that it needs to be changed, obviously, then I would give that serious consideration.” McCain says that he has “respect” for Mullen’s view, but he dismisses it as simply an “individual opinion.”
But McCain has previously said that the “individual opinion” of military leaders for whom he has “respect” influenced his views on military policy. In June 2009, he told Ana Marie Cox that he originally supported the policy because General Colin Powell had “strongly recommended” it and he hadn’t “heard General Powell or any of the other military leaders reverse their position.” Powell released a statement yesterday saying he now opposes the continuation of DADT because “attitudes and circumstances have changed.”
So basically, McCain is willing to “listen” to military leaders on DADT — he’s just not going to let their expert opinions get in the way of what he already thinks.
Transcript:
BENNETT: You, you know, we’re very proud of you for a lot of reasons, but not least your lonely vigil the other day — it looked to me lonely — on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, you were strong, you were tough and looked to me to be pretty much by yourself. I know a lot of Americans are with you, but what’s the story with the Senate?
MCCAIN: Well, I, there are members who obviously agree with me, but look, the policy is working. I talk to military all the time. I have a lot of contact with them. The policy is working and the president made a commitment in his campaign that he would reverse it and the president then made the announcement that wants it reversed. And it is a law. It has to be changed.
BENNETT: Yes.
MCCAIN: So Admiral Mullen said, speaking for himself only, he thought it ought to be reversed and of course Secretary Gates said that. I do not. I do not know what the other military leadership wants. I know that I have a letter signed by over a thousand retired admirals and generals that said they don’t want it reversed. And so, I will be glad to listen to the views of military leaders. I always have. But I’m not changing my position in support of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell unless there is the significant support for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And I would remind you that we’re in two wars. You know that and our listeners know that. And do we need, don’t we need a serious assessment of the effect on morale or battle and combat effectiveness before we go forward with a reversal in a campaigning, carrying out an Obama campaign pledge.
BENNETT: Yeah, let me ask you quickly. Some things I want to get to too. Gay serve in the military now, but you know, don’t ask, don’t tell, keep your mouth shut. Keep, mind your own business.
MCCAIN: They’re not precluded from serving in the military and…say that they have.
BENNETT: Right. But what changes?
MCCAIN: And what this would do, would obviously have openly gay individuals serving and that could, I want to emphasize could, in the view of many have an effect on both retention, re-enlistment and morale. And there was a Military Times, Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corp Times survey that showed there was significant resistance to repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell within the ranks of the military. So we need to carefully examine this before we take any action in my view on a policy that is working.
BENNETT: Yeah.
Hatch blasts ?liberal groups? for ?misconstruing? his position on DADT: ‘I certainly do not support repeal.’
Yesterday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) surprised many by suggesting that he was open to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). Explaining that he saw both sides of the issue, Hatch told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he “believe[d] there are very outstanding, patriotic gay people who serve in the military. … And they shouldn’t have to […]
Yesterday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) surprised many by suggesting that he was open to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). Explaining that he saw both sides of the issue, Hatch told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he “believe[d] there are very outstanding, patriotic gay people who serve in the military. … And they shouldn’t have to lie about being gay.” When Mitchell asked whether he would vote for repeal, Hatch left the door open, saying, “Well I don’t know about that, I’d have to look at it.” His comments were quickly picked up by liberal and pro-gay rights blogs, leading some to speculate that this “significant development” meant there was more support for repealing DADT in the Senate than previously thought. But today, Hatch made clear that he does not support repeal and attacked “liberal groups” for “misconstruing” his position:
“It’s deeply regrettable that liberal groups are misconstruing my position on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for activist purposes. I certainly do not support repealing this policy,” Hatch’s statement on Thursday said. […]
“What I said was that I want to see Adm. Mullen’s report. This is a controversial issue with inflamed passions on both sides,” Hatch said.
“Over the years, the views of the military officers and experts, whom I respect, have said that repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ would make life for our troops more difficult — especially as our armed forces wage a global war on terrorism,” Hatch said.
(HT: FDL)
