Lawyers Advise Delay in Ending Ban on Gays in Military
In-house lawyers for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are advising delaying action to lift the ban on openly gay service members.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo outlining the legal advice to Adm. Mike Mullen. “Now is not the time,” the memo said. “The importance of winning the wars we are in, along with the stress on the force, our body of knowledge and the number of unknowns, demand that we act with deliberation.”
The lawyers said the Pentagon should not send proposed legislation to Congress repealing the ban until late 2011, the exclusive AP story says. At that time, troops would be returning from Afghanistan. A few months later, all U.S. forces would be leaving Iraq. Debate on the legislation could take six months to a year.
A spokesman for Mullen told AP that the Joint Chiefs continue to have a dialogue about the policy and the law, and no decisions have been made.
