Don’t Debate
The blog at ABC News reported yesterday on a statement from Dr. David Chu, Defense Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness, to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator Wyden wrote to the Pentagon, asking for any military justification for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Dr. Chu, rather than responding to the Senator's question, said in a letter that "A national debate on changing" the law would bring "divisiveness and turbulence across our country," which "will compound the burden of the war."
In other words: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Debate.
Funny, I always thought Congress did its job best when it engaged in open, informed debate about the issues. And I thought it might be the loss of doctors, linguists, and other critical personnel that could be 'compouding the burden of the war.' But according to Dr. Chu, it's the exercise of free speech, and open debate, that spirals our democracy into the abyss.
What country do we live in again?
Let's all stand up for Congressional oversight, educated debate and the first amendment by asking Congress to look at the issue and decide: Is it informed conversation, or the loss of qualified troops who could help in the war, that hurts us more.
- Steve Ralls
03-04-07
1 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Anonymous on December 31, 1969 at 02.00 pm
grrrrr. i love the power of fear. it’s just like the fear that there will be too much discourse within the ranks. to me, this seems like a statement of non-confidence in the leadership training the military provides. if this is the case, then the policies that the military is already resting on are faulty and full of holes. honestly, i believe that there are enough good leaders within the ranks that would allow the transition to happen almost seamlessly—at least on the job.
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