Ask, Tell, Whatever?

FOR the first time since the 2000 presidential campaign, the issue of homosexuals serving openly in the military has moved to center stage. Encouraged by polls purporting to show that public opinion, both civilian and military, is now more receptive to the idea, Rep. Martin Meehan (D., Mass.), chairman of the relevant subcommittee, has revived his 2005 bill that would repeal the Clinton-era policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT). DADT prohibits military commanders from asking about a person’s sexual orientation and allows homosexuals to serve if they keep their sexual orientation private and don’t engage in homosexual acts. Meehan’s bill would replace DADT with “a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

The timing of this debate is unfortunate. As David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote in a recent letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), “The Global War on Terrorism is far-reaching and unrelenting.” A national debate on gays in the military threatens to cause “divisiveness and turbulence across our country, [compounding] the burden of the war.”

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.

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FOR the first time since the 2000 presidential campaign, the issue of homosexuals serving openly in the military has moved to center stage. Encouraged by polls purporting to show that public opinion, both civilian and military, is now more receptive to the idea, Rep. Martin Meehan (D., Mass.), chairman of the relevant subcommittee, has revived his 2005 bill that would repeal the Clinton-era policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT). DADT prohibits military commanders from asking about a person’s sexual orientation and allows homosexuals to serve if they keep their sexual orientation private and don’t engage in homosexual acts. Meehan’s bill would replace DADT with “a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

The timing of this debate is unfortunate. As David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote in a recent letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), “The Global War on Terrorism is far-reaching and unrelenting.” A national debate on gays in the military threatens to cause “divisiveness and turbulence across our country, [compounding] the burden of the war.”

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.