Knights Party Veterans League

For Immediate Release
January 28, 2011

Contact:
Elaine Donnelly, CMR President
Tommy Sears, Executive Director
(734) 464-9430

(202) 347-5333

NO WAY TO “MITIGATE” CONSEQUENCES OF LGBT LAW FOR THE MILITARY

In anticipation of today’s Pentagon announcement of plans to impose unprecedented policies on the armed forces following repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, issued the following statement:

“In accordance with the tradition of releasing bad news on Friday afternoons, Defense Department officials today are announcing controversial ‘mitigation measures’ for imposition of the administration’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) Law and associated policies on our military.

“The lightning-speed rush to deliver on presidential campaign promises to civilian LGBT activist groups, timed to occur before the House Armed Services Committee has had the opportunity to have hearings on the Pentagon’s review released late in 2010, follows the reckless congressional vote to repeal Section 654, Title 10, U.S.C., in the lame-duck session. That law, stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military, usually is mislabeled ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

“The deeply flawed but well-spun ‘Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) Report,’ released on November 30, 2010, buries within its pages scores of complicated issues and problems involving human sexuality. All of these problems will be loaded on the backs of trainers and field commanders, who will be expected to divert valuable time to deal with all of the negative consequences in the midst of ongoing wars.

“The CRWG report devotes several pages to colorful horizontal bar graphs purporting to show how ‘risk assessments’ will be improved by applying the Defense Department Working Group’s own ‘mitigation measures.”’ (CRWG Report, pp. 97-118). This attempt to set up for ‘success’ an unprecedented social experiment betrays more hubris than credibility.

“The irony is that none of the ‘mitigation measures’ recommended in the CRWG report (p. 104) will benefit the military in terms of morale, recruiting, retention, and overall readiness.

“Colorful graphics and decimal-pointed directives are common in the military, but the ones associated with this attempt to impose a controversial LGBT law on the military cannot disguise misplaced priorities, disregard for human and military realities, and a lack of common sense.”

To schedule an interview on this subject, call CMR President Elaine Donnelly at 734/464-9430 or Executive Director Tommy Sears at 202/347-5333.

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