Posted with permission.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/dadt_repeal_is_working_as_plan033750.phpNovember 28, 2011 1:20 PM
DADT repeal is working as planned
By Steve Benen
About a month ago, Andrew Sullivan asked, “Now that DADT is over, can the hysterics who warned it would destroy the military concede they were wrong?”
That would be nice. They were, after all, making all kinds of dire predictions, all of which have turned out to be baseless. One military leader in particular preferred to keep “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in place, but now concedes that the post-repeal system is working just fine.
Gen. James F. Amos, the top officer in the U.S. Marines, says he is “pleased” at how smoothly the military branch has adapted to the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell — and top gay rights advocates agree.
Amos, who had publicly opposed the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military, spent the past week in Afghanistan holding more than a dozen town-hall meetings with Marines, reports the AP, which had an exclusive interview with the Marine commander.
Not once during the sessions was he asked about the repeal, according to the wire service.
“I’m very pleased with how it has gone,” Amos said.
For Amos to be gracious about this after opposing the president’s policy only helps reinforce how mistaken Republican warnings were.
Thomas Ricks recently noted a major on active duty who raised a similar point.
At what point in time should journalists, bloggers, etc … hold those who made wildly inaccurate predications on the lifting of the ban accountable? All the retired generals and officers (LTG Mixon, Merrill A. McPeak and Col. Dave Bedey for example) who predicted that soldiers would leave the military by the thousands, or John McCain and other politicians describing how it would affect us as a fighting force?
At some point I feel that the public should be reminded of their predictions so the next time they make predictions that are way off the mark, fewer people will give them credence.
Some degree of accountability would be a refreshing change of pace, wouldn’t it?
Granted, the official end of DADT only happened a few months ago, and I suppose it’s still possible that God will punish the United States for this transgression with a series of meteors, but
it’s not too soon to say the right’s anti-gay critics, led in large part by John McCain, had no idea what they were talking about. The dire predictions that said thousands of active-duty soldiers would quit the armed forces and recruiting would become nearly impossible were, we now know, entirely wrong.
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