Retired U.S. Army Lt. General Benjamin
Mixon has criticized the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” as
moving “too fast.”
Last year, Congress approved and
President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that ends the policy
that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly, known as
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” But the policy won't end until sixty
days after top Pentagon leaders and the president certify that the
military is ready for the change.
The
military's four service chiefs testified before Congress this month
that training for repeal of the policy was going well.
Mixon
told The
Washington Times on Monday that repeal was fraught
with risk.
“There's no question in my mind that
this is driven by politics and not military necessity,” he said.
“Pushing this kind of social agenda in the military, especially
during a time of war, is not appropriate. We're taking a great
risk.”
“The risk is a breakdown in morale
and unit cohesion,” Mixon, who retired on May 1, added.
Last March, as lawmakers debated
whether to lift the policy, Mixon urged service members and their
families to speak up in favor of the policy.
“Now is the time to write your
elected officials and chain of command and express your views,”
Mixon wrote in a letter published in Stars and Stripes, the
U.S. military's independent news source. “If those of us who are
in favor of retaining the current policy do not speak up, there is no
chance to retain the current policy.”