Romney criticized for supporting 'don't ask, don't tell'

by Chad Groening
February 23, 2007

(OneNewsNow.com) - - A conservative military watchdog says she has a problem with the recent statement made by Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in relation to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Instead, Elaine Donnelly suggests the man who wants to lead the country advocate enforcement of the law.

During an interview on ABC's This Week, Romney said the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is working well, and that the Pentagon should not change the policy during an ongoing war. In essence, that policy prohibits a homosexual or bisexual serving in the military from acting upon, talking about, or disclosing their "sexual orientation" -- and as long as those individuals successfully "hide" their sexuality, those in authority over them are not allowed to investigate their sexuality.

But Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), contends the former Massachusetts governor should be advocating enforcement of the actual law passed in 1993 that bans homosexuals from serving in the military.

"Congress never passed 'Don't ask, don't tell,'" she points out. "So if Mr. Romney says that as president he would retain the Clinton 'don't ask, don't tell' regulations -- which can and should be eliminated -- I have a problem with that.

"[Romney's] statement as given in a television interview right now is not satisfactory to me," Donnelly continues. "What I want to know in the case of this candidate and any of the candidates, Democrat or Republican, is a very simple question: Do you support the law that excludes homosexuals from the military? And will you enforce that law? That law, of course, is quite different from 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

And the debate is not about civil rights, says the CMR spokeswoman. "In the military this is not a matter of civil rights," says Donnelly, a former member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. "There are lots of regulations that apply to people in the military that would never apply in the civilian world because they would be a violation of civil rights. The military is a different type of institution."

Donnelly believes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy -- which was enacted through executive order by President Bill Clinton shortly after he took office in 1993 -- should have been rescinded by President George W. Bush the day he took office.