Pace Weighs In on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
13 March 2007 12:02 am by Taylor Marsh
General Pace on Don\’t Ask, Don\’t Tell updated below
| Video: General Peter Pace |
This is very unfortunate. General Peter Pace is an educated military man who should know better. Comparing homosexuality to adultery is alarming. Even in the traditional military culture you\’d expect a top general to understand reality. It\’s one thing to have a policy of don\’t ask don\’t tell. It\’s quite another to be so absolutely clueless.
It\’s also a stark reminder of the old fashioned thinking
that still exists at the top of the military chain of command. General Peter Pace was chosen by
Rumsfeld to head the Joint Chiefs because of his traditional belief in the relationship
between the SecDef and the JCS. It was needed for Rumsfeld to continue skirting
Goldwater Nichols, among others things. But now that Rummy is history we also see what having a traditionalist
in the JCS means. I realize by that description I\’m being kind.
Homophobia in the military ranks is a reality. It is wrong and should be changed,
but when you have the JCS coming out with comments like this one it\’s tough
to think of it happening any time soon. At some point grown adults living in the modern era
need to be challenged to review their \”upbringing.\”
Responding to a question about a Clinton-era policy that is coming under
renewed scrutiny amid fears of future U.S. troop shortages, Pace said the
Pentagon should not \”condone\” immoral behavior by allowing gay soldiers
to serve openly. He said his views were based on his personal \”upbringing,\”
in which he was taught that certain types of conduct are immoral.\”I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that
we should not condone immoral acts,\” Pace said in a wide-ranging discussion
with Tribune editors and reporters in Chicago. \”I do not believe the
United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral
in any way.\”As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to
be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were
to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else\’s wife, that we
would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of
immoral behavior,\” Pace said.
The military is very slow to change course. However, we are now accepting
criminals in the ranks of our armed forces. It says something about our nation
that we\’d rather recruit thugs than an honorable gay person who wants to serve
his or her country. But we\’re going to need a different type of military team
at the top to make Don\’t Ask, Don\’t Tell a part of history. At some point the military leadership will have to summon the courage to make it happen.
UPDATE (10:27 a.m.): Pace is proud of his statement. … more here.
