ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
"DON'T ASK, don't tell" is an awkward policy, meant as a compromise between the ban on gays in the military and President Clinton's desire to end discrimination against them.
If allegations by a gay-rights advocacy group prove accurate, the military seems to be resolving the awkwardness - by defying orders of its commander in chief, the president. And that would be a breach of the fundamental principle that the military is under the control of civilian authority.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network alleges that since the "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy was adopted in 1994, discharges from the military for homosexuality have increased. In the year ending this month, 850 men and women were discharged, a 42 percent increase from 1994 and the highest rate of discharge since 1987.
The increase, the group charges, is the result of violations of the "don't ask" policy. Many commanders not only ask about a person's sexual orientation, but "pursue and harass suspected gay service members with impunity."
A Pentagon spokeswoman says the Defense Department will investigate "if there is credible and specific information presented" of violations, and take action where warranted. The inquiry should be immediate and thorough.
The policy - officers are not supposed to ask and service members are not supposed to tell, but the military can investigate "credible information" that suspected personnel engaged in homosexual conduct - is ambiguous, born of a Clintonesque attempt to go down a middle road that pleased neither side. But the policy's intent was good: to set a standard of tolerance as long as homosexuals did nothing by virtue of their sexuality to disrupt military order.
That much should be clear. So is the principle that military leaders should follow lawful orders.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB