Executive Director of Servicemen's Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Aubrey Sarvis criticized Defense Secretary Robert Gates for his remarks yesterday on FOX New Sunday with Chris Wallace. Gates' remarks, which I posted about over the weekend, indicated that repeal of the discriminatory law was not near the top of the list of the Obama administration's priorities.
Said Sarvis: "Sec. Gates hardly gave a sound reason for kicking 'Don't Ask, Don'tTell' down the road — or essentially back tracking on a campaignpromise made by his Commander in Chief. I trust thesecretary was not speaking for President Obama, who, hopefully, willissue the call for repeal when he sends his Defense Department budgetto Congress in a few weeks. This is about timely leadership. It's also called multitasking. Right now is the time– while we're engaged in two wars — we need the most qualified menand women serving. This is not the time to keep firing linguists andintelligence analysts because of their sexual orientation. The longerthe president and Pentagon delay the issue, the fewer linguists andintelligence analysts the Pentagon will have to call on to fightterrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
I've reposted the Robert Gates clip, AFTER THE JUMP…
