(Via Ricochet.com)
The Obama administration, the media, and, now, the Secretary of Defense–all are pressing, hard, to have Congress repeal “Don’t ask, don’t tell” during this lame duck session. What’s stopping them?
John McCain.
The military, as most of the civilized world know nows, has conducted a survey of 115,000 active duty and reserve servicemen. (Sorry. I won’t use “service members.” I just won’t.) Most, as Secretary Gates has glibly informed the Congress, would have no objection to the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
To which Sen. McCain has replied, Not so fast.
Speaking at a hearing, McCain noted that, whereas members of the military who work in positions removed from the field of battle have little objection to repealing the law, the same cannot at all be said of those actually expected to fight. Almost half of Army combat troops and more than half of Marines in combat positions said repealing the law would have a “negative” or “very negative” effect on the cohesion of their units. McCain:
I remain concerned, as I have in the past, and as demonstrated in this study, that the closer we get to service members in combat, the more we encounter concerns about whether ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ should be repealed. These views should not be considered lightly, especially considering how much combat our forces face.
I suppose it’s decidedly uncool to say so, but, a) McCain is right about this, and, b) he’s displaying real guts here. Everything we know about combat–I mean everything, from Thucydides to my Uncommon Knowledge interview with war correspondent Sebastian Junger–tells us that men in combat don’t fight for ideals, or even for their country. They fight for the other men in their units. Anything that would interfere with the unique bonds of respect, trust, and friendship that characterize America’s little units–the squads and platoons–would directly undermine the defense of the nation.
Stop, McCain is saying. Listen–listen to the men we ask to fight. Think.
Good for John McCain.
Full story: When John McCain Is Good, He’s Good