Presidential hopeful Barack Obama will not require his top military
commanders to oppose the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the
military, he said in an interview with a prominent gay magazine. The
Democratic senator from Illinois told the Advocate that he would push
for the elimination of the controversial Clinton-era personnel policy,
but said that his primary test of fitness for the joint chiefs of staff
would be an assessment of their national security strengths. Under
the 1994 policy, which was President Bill Clinton's effort to take a
step toward full inclusion of homosexuals in the military, the military
allows gays and lesbians to serve so long as they do not expose their
sexual preference or exhibit homosexual behaviour. The policy has
come under increasing scrutiny of late because US armed forces are
overtaxed with commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gay groups and
liberal politicians question why homosexuals should be forbidden to
serve openly in the military, especially when the armed services are in
desperate need of skilled personnel. "Obviously, there are so
many issues that a member of the joint chiefs has to deal with, and my
paramount obligation is to get the best possible people to keep America
safe," he told the magazine. "There's increasing recognition
within the armed forces that this is a counterproductive strategy – you
know, we're spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays
or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like
Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need," Obama told the
Advocate."That doesn't make us more safe, and what I want are
members of the joint chiefs of staff who are making decisions based on
what strengthens our military and what is going to make us safer, not
ideology."Republican nominee John McCain, the only candidate to
have served in the military, opposes repealing the policy. In a June
debate he said it would be a "terrific mistake" to reopen the issue
because the military is performing well. In the interview, Obama
defended himself against accusations that he has shut out the gay
press, arguing that every facet of the news media complains of a lack
of access to him. "The gay press may feel like I'm not giving
them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all
times," he said. "Obviously, when you've got limited amount of time,
you've got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of
specialized press. We try to do general press for a general readership." SOURCE OF THIS STORY