Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern has proven unfounded that repeal would undermine the war effort. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.Jim Naughton at The Lead says:
In an Associated Press interview, Amos called the repeal in September "a non-event."
That is in contrast to his cautionary words to Congress in December 2010, shortly before President Barack Obama signed the repeal legislation. The ban was not lifted until this year to allow the Pentagon to prepare troops for the change.
"Successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus on preparing units for combat," Amos testified. Still, he said at the time that if the law were changed, it would be faithfully followed by Marines.
He now sees no sign of disruption in the ranks – even on the front lines.
"I'm very pleased with how it has gone," Amos said during a weeklong trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he heard nary a word of worry about gays. During give-and-take sessions with Marines serving on in Helmand province, he was asked about a range of issues, including the future of the Corps – but not one about gays.
You have lived to see the day on which the commander of the U. S. Marine Corps sounds more irenic about the future of LGBT people within his organization that the Archbishop of Canterbury does about the future of LGBT people within his.What an embarrassment! Are you embarrased? I know I am.
The Church of England and the Anglican Communion have experimented with 'Don't ask; don't tell' for ages now. Isn't the time ripe to move forward?
Note to the Archbishop of Canterbury: Tell it to the Commandant of the Marines.
Off-color joke alert, re marines who "embrace the change". More than twenty years ago a San Diego resident told me that a popular joke among aficionados of the local marine base was "How do you tell a butch marine from a nelly marine?" Answer? "A butch marine holds his own legs in the air"!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mona. Now we know.
ReplyDeleteVery fine, especially your note to His Slowness, Grandmère.
ReplyDeleteSorry - I did not mean to be anonymous, but as long as I was, I did not write Shakespeare's plays.
ReplyDelete...I did not write Shakespeare's plays.
ReplyDeleteNo! There goes my theory.
Laurel, thanks for your kind words, even if you did not write the plays.
well someone wrote Shakespeare's plays, so who was it? Mimi, was it you? ...
ReplyDeletePS, "a non-event", quelle surprise.
ReplyDeleteMost marines are younger than the commandant, and I'd wager that, for them, ending DADT was a non-event. From what I gather, a good many gays and lesbians in the military were semi-out, and it was only when someone had a grudge and told a higher-up with a grudge that they got into trouble.
ReplyDelete[Warning: Stereotyping ahead....]
ReplyDeleteI remember a conversation with a closeted Navy sailor from San Diego back in the late 80s. He told me "If they declare war tomorrow, half the guys on my ship will be running around screaming 'What ARE we going to wear?!?!?!" ;-)
Doxy, I believe you. ;-)
ReplyDelete