The AP has a new interview with Defense Secretary Gates in which he claims that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is ready for the final certification to be repealed. The caveat, of course, is that he defers to each branch's judgment:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that he sees no roadblocks to ending the ban on openly gay military service, and if the top officers of each service recommend moving ahead on the repeal before the end of the month, he will endorse it.Secretary Gates notes:
"I think people are pretty satisfied with the way this process is going forward," he said. "I think people have been mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training."Yes, there are still sexual assaults and ugly incidents involving women but that hasn't stopped anyone from suggesting civil rights for women or equality should be slow walked. Preventing those sorts of things from happening is determined by setting the proper command climate that those things will not be tolerated, and when they occur then promptly and severely punishing the perpetrators as an example.
Still, he noted that decades after women entered military service, there are still persistent problems with sexual assaults. So, the notion that there will be no ugly incidents when the ban is lifted is "unrealistic," he said.
