Pentagon: Repealing 'Don't Ask' Is About 'Integrity'

Gates, Mullen tell senators the year-long process has begun
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2010 1:49 PM CST
Pentagon: Repealing 'Don't Ask' Is About 'Integrity'
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, before their testimony on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Rolling back Don't Ask, Don't Tell boils down to a simple matter of "integrity," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told senators today. Adm. Mike Mullen and defense secretary Robert Gates took to Capitol Hill to provide details on how the Pentagon is beginning a year-long process of repealing the ban on gays in the military. "The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it," said Gates.

He's appointed a "high-level" group to look at all aspects of repealing the ban and said the process can't be rushed, reports CNN. "When you take into account the overriding imperative—to get this right and minimize disruption to a force that is actively fighting two wars and working through the stress of almost a decade of combat—then it is clear to us that we must proceed in a (thorough) manner." He confirmed that the Pentagon will enforce the rule in a "fairer" way in the meantime. (More Don't Ask, Don't Tell stories.)

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