OBAMA VOWS TO END THE' DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL' POLICY

President Barack Obama has vowed to end the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly even as the US Justice Department has requested an emergency stay on federal judge’s injunction stopping enforcement of the policy.

“We are moving in the direction of ending this policy.It has to be done in a way that is orderly, because we are involved in a war right now. This is not a question of whether the policy will. This policy will end and it will end on my watch,” Mr. Obama said at a Youth Town Hall meeting.

• “I do have an obligation to make sure that I am following some of the rules. I can’t simply ignore laws that are out there. I’ve got to work to make sure that they are changed,” he said.
• Referring to a recent district court order that said, ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is unconstitutional, he said: “I agree with the basic principle that anybody who wants to serve in our armed forces and make sacrifices on our behalf, on behalf of our national security, anybody should be able to serve.
• They shouldn’t have to lie about who they are in order to serve.”Earlier in the day, Justice Department lawyers said they wanted the federal court in California to grant a stay of the injunction, which would remain in effect throughout the appeals process.

The stay would allow for an orderly transition to a policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the US military.Senior military lawyers at the Department of Defence directed military lawyers to stop any proceedings related to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

• “The department will abide by the terms in the court’s ruling, effective as of the time and date of the ruling,” Col Dave Lapan, Pentagon spokesman, said.Under Secretary of Defence for overall military readiness, Clifford L Stanley, cautioned that an abrupt transition would ruin Pentagon’s work surveying military commands around the world to determine how best to create a new policy that allows people who are openly homosexual to serve.
• In a sworn declaration submitted with the government’s appeal, Stanley said “the injunction will have adverse effects on both military readiness and the department’s ability to effect a smooth and lasting transition to a policy that accommodates the presence of openly gay and lesbian service members. The stakes are so high, and the potential harm so great, that caution is in order.”
• Stanley warned that “a poorly implemented transition will not only cause short-term disruption to military operations, but would also jeopardise the long-term success of the transition. Either outcome would irreparably harm our military and the national security of the US.”

Source:Flash News