AP: Full "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal "Probably Years Away"

So much for "right away". The Defense Department's Working Group on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal has met and proposes a "protracted timeline" that is "probably years away", reports the Associated Press.

The two officials appointed to lead a yearlong internal assessment — Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, and Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson — met for the first time on Feb. 9. As that study gets under way, officials were expected by mid-March to suggest ways to relax enforcement of the law. Of particular interest is minimizing cases of "third party outings," where a service member is kicked out after being reported by others to be gay.

The protracted time line is about more than giving military leaders time to assess the impact on troops and put new rules in place. The multiyear process also is a strategic way of getting troops used to the idea before they have to accept change. Reversing the military's policy on gays, which is based on a 1993 law and would require an act of Congress, would mark the biggest upheaval to the military's personnel policies since the 1948 executive order on racial integration.

The goal, according to senior defense and military officials, is to avoid the backlash that could result from imposing change too fast. While officials expect resistance from only a minority of service members and believe that it could be contained with discipline, officials fear isolated incidents of violence could erupt as a means of protest.

In contrast, NATO partners and other nations that have successfully integrated gays into military, such as Great Britain, South Africa and Israel, suggest a rapid timeline to end anti-gay bans in the military.

From the "fierce urgency of now" to the fierce urgency of ... whenever.

H/T: Michelangelo Signorile/@MSignorile

Comments

[Greg G]

>>>From the "fierce urgency of now" to the fierce urgency of ... whenever.

And the irony is that Colin Powell, Dick Cheney and other conservatives say repeal it now. Amd the administration wants to drag the "process" out.

[Da' Realist One]

Like I said on a previous story relating to this...

If you're holding your breath hoping for the Dems and/or the Pres to flex their politial authority to get this done there's gonna be a whole bunch of dead mofo's laying around.

Until Gays & Lesbians flex their political muscle and make repercussions to those who don't (or in this case WON'T) do the right thing in making equality a thing for us all, we should and will continue to see ourselves on the back burner.

Garden State Equality in New Jersey finally stepped up and said NO MORE, and stopped giving time, manpower and most importantly MONEY to a political party that CHOOSES not to support their GLBT constituents. They decided they will only support those who supports them (as it should be).

When we as GLBT men and women (especially those of color) decide to adopt that same mentality and act on it, ONLY THEN will you see change.

I mean hell, think about it...
It works for the Republicans' doesn't it?