General Pace Expresses Regret Over Anti-Gay Comments

Without going so far as to make an apology, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace expressed regret Tuesday over his comments that homosexuals are immoral and should not be allowed to serve openly in the military.

According to the AP, “In a statement Tuesday, he said he should have focused more in the interview on the Defense Department policy about gays — and ‘less on my personal moral views.'”

Pace’s recent comments came after outrage from gay advocacy groups as well as statements from aides close to Pace, who said that the general would not apologize for his comments:

“Pace’s senior staff members said Tuesday that the general was expressing his personal opinion and had no intention of apologizing. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the record.”

Rep. Martin Meehan, who recently introduced legislation to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, criticized Pace, who is also the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Said Meehan: “General Pace’s statements aren’t in line with either the majority of the public or the military. He needs to recognize that support for overturning (the policy) is strong and growing (and that the military is) turning away good troops to enforce a costly policy of discrimination.”

Senator John Warner (R-VA) issued what ABC News called a “rare rebuke of the nation’s top military officer,” saying “I respectfully, but strongly disagree with the chairman’s view that homosexuality is immoral.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed disappointment at Pace’s remarks at a news conference today: “I was disappointed in the moral judgment that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs made this morning, or whenever it was, reported this morning, and I was more interested in the statement made by Gen. Shalikashvilii, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, when he said that, ‘If America is ready for a military policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation, the timing of the change should be carefully considered.’ I think the military should carefully consider changing the policy. We need the most talented people, we need the language skills, we need patriotic Americans who exist across the board in our population. We don’t need moral judgment from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.” (video)