Marking the 14th anniversary of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, the Human Rights campaign has asked the leading Democratic candidates for President to respond to the question, “If you are elected President, what concrete steps would you take to overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?’
Here's is Hillary Clinton's response from HRC Backstory
"I strongly believe that anyone who has the courage, strength, and valor to serve our country should be able to do so. We are at war and our top generals are warning that America’s military is stretched to the breaking point, yet we have a policy that dismisses good people from our ranks. Even service members with critical skills such as Arabic language skills are being discharged because they are gay. Senior retired military officials who can speak freely say this law does not serve our national security interests. These same military leaders are confident that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell won't lessen standards of behavior or lower morale.
As President, I will work with high-profile military leaders, such as former Joint Chiefs chairman John M. Shalikashvili and Retired Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the Army, who have called for repeal of the law. I will stand with soldiers like retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first American soldier to be seriously wounded in Iraq, and retired Army Sgt. Jose Zuniga, former Army Soldier of the Year, who are shining examples of why this law no longer makes sense.
Over the last seven years in the Senate, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee, I have built relationships with members of Congress and senior military officials through my work on the Armed Services Committee. When I am President, I will bring this strength and experience to bear to end this outdated and outmoded policy."
Posted by David Mariner at December 2, 2007 04:52 AM
I am a Veteran of the Gulf War Era. I was honorably discharged just before the deployment. However, some years later, I was asked to return to service for Naval Satellite Weapons Targetting. At that time, I had already had four surgeries from an military injury and had fought for several years for surgeries and therapy in the VA. I had been highly disgruntled and disappointed in the government and felt that I did not want to serve the coutry if the country treats its Veterans like garbage--out with the injured in with the newbies.
No one is perfect and certainly no politician can please all of the people all of the time, maybe some cannot even please some of the people. However, I have spent hundreds of hours researching candidates and I have been highly impressed with Sen. Hillary Clinton. I know that she is not a lesbian but she is a sister. Besides that, if I ever thought about rejoining the armed forces, I would love to serve and work for her as Commander in Chief.
I was discharged from the Army under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy last May. The whole situation was an accident, but after I was told I would be discharged, I was out for the rest of my time in the Army-through out-processing. Come to find out, 1/3 of my unit was gay, lesbian or bi. Those who weren't, even the religious ones didn't change their view of me. My platoon sergeant told me he will never see gays the same way again. He would never have known that such a good, hard working person would be gay. This, as well as dozens of countries who allow open homosexuals in the military proves that nothing will happen to troop morale. It actually shows that troop morale is damaged. I'm a one issue voter, and doing away with the DADT policy is my issue. The Democratic Party is obviously the one to support if you are also wanting changes for the LGBT community, among other communities and issues.
