Push for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Review Gains Steam
In the last week both Gen. Colin Powell and the Joint Chiefs chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, have gone on record about reviewing the military's gay ban, leading some D.C. insiders to conclude that the incoming administration has put the wheels in motion behind the scenes.
By Kerry Eleveld
An Advocate.com exclusive posted December 17, 2008
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid68649.asp (http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid68649.asp)
Back-to-back statements about the military's policy on gays from former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Colin Powell, and the present chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, have some LGBT activists guessing that more explicit directions have been given behind the scenes by the incoming President.
Powell's semantic shift from previously saying the military "can" review "don't ask, don't tell" to last week suggesting that it "should" do so was followed up by Tuesday's revelation that Mullen has had initial conversations with his top commanders about changing the policy, which would ultimately require congressional repeal.
"The president-elect's been pretty clear that he wants to address this issue," Mullen told The New York Times. "And so I am certainly mindful that at some point in time it could come."