Congress wary after generals admit they ‘don’t know’ how ‘gays’ impact readiness

Republican leaders in Congress are talking about new ways of putting the brakes on repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” after top military brass repeatedly told a House committee hearing they “don’t know” how welcoming open homosexuality in the ranks will affect combat readiness.

Though Congress last year repealed the 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military, open homosexuality in the ranks won’t officially be permitted until after the president, secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that implementation of the change “is consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion and recruiting and retention of the armed forces.”

At a full House Armed Services Committee hearing earlier this month, however, those “standards” came into question, as U.S. military leaders wilted under demands from congressional members to justify repeal of the policy.

According to a report from the Center for Military Readiness, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif., challenged the military leaders, “I want to know how repeal increases combat effectiveness.”

“[It is] too soon for me to tell,” answered Marine Commandant General and Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Amos. “Some of this will become evolutionary, revealed over time.”

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