Lawmaker criticizes Army's firing of gays

WASHINGTON - The Army fired 11 soldiers in January for violating the military's policy that gay service members must keep their sexuality hidden, according to a Virginia congressman.

Democratic Rep. James P. Moran said he had requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the policy until it is repealed.

In a statement released yesterday, Moran said the discharged soldiers included an intelligence collector, a military police officer, four infantry personnel, a health-care specialist, a motor-transport operator, and a water-treatment specialist.

"How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?" asked Moran, a member of the House panel that oversees military spending.

The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was instituted after President Bill Clinton tried to lift the ban on gay service members in 1993.

It refers to the military practice of not asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members are banned from saying they are gay or bisexual, engaging in homosexual activity, or trying to marry a member of the same sex.

The military discharged nearly 10,000 service members under the policy in a 10-year period, from 1997 to 2007. The number fired each year dropped sharply after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, when forces were stretched thin.

Whereas more than 1,200 were dismissed in 2000 and the same number again in 2001 for violating the policy, about half as many - 627 - were fired in 2007.

The Pentagon has not released its 2008 figures.

The White House has said President Obama has begun consulting with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, on how to lift the ban.

The administration won't say how soon that might happen or whether a group of experts will be commissioned to study the issue in-depth, as some Democrats have suggested.

Likewise, Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill support repealing the ban but have not promised to press the issue.

President Obama pledged yesterday the nation would maintain its world leadership by combining military power, diplomacy, and economic might.

"The old approaches won't meet the challenges of our time," he said at the dedication of Abraham Lincoln Hall at the National Defense University in Washington. He cited terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, cyber-threats, and economic turmoil.

"Make no mistake, this nation will maintain our military dominance," he said, adding that the United States must also apply diplomacy and

its economic power

to stay secure. "We cannot continue to push the burden onto our military alone."

Michelle Obama, voyaging away from Washington, visited with soldiers yesterday at Fort Bragg, N.C., and spoke to their spouses and children.

Beginning some of the advocacy she has said will be a large part of her focus, she met with the military community at the sprawling base.

She hugged soldiers and posed for photos in a dining facility and then read The Cat in the Hat with commentary in a classroom of children.

- Inquirer wire services

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