WASHINGTON – The Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the Pentagon adopted its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays says he no longer opposes allowing them to serve openly.
John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997 after four years as the nation’s top military officer, had argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units. He said he has changed his mind after meeting with gay servicemen.
“These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers,” Shalikashvili wrote in an opinion piece in Tuesday’s New York Times.
The current policy, based on legislation passed by Congress in 1993, states that gays and lesbians may serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientation private. Commanders may not ask, and gay service members may not tell. Over the years thousands have been dismissed under this policy.
Possible detainee abuse detailed
FBI agents documented more than two dozen incidents of possible mistreatment at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, including one detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape for chanting the Quran and another who pulled out his hair after hours in a sweltering room, according to papers released Tuesday by the FBI.
California: Guard helicopter crashes
A California National Guard helicopter ferrying Border Patrol agents crashed Tuesday 20 miles southeast of downtown San Diego, near the U.S.-Mexico border, injuring all nine people aboard, authorities said. Injuries were described as moderate to major. Authorities wouldn’t speculate on the cause.
Massachusetts: Gay union ban
A Tuesday vote by Massachusetts lawmakers kept alive a proposed constitutional amendment that would put a stop to gay marriage in the only state that allows same-sex couples to wed. Lawmakers gave the first round of approval necessary for the amendment to appear on the ballot in 2008. The measure still needs the endorsement of the next legislative session.
Hawaii: More tsunami warnings?
Scientists at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center want to loosen the requirements for issuing tsunami warnings when earthquakes hit near the Hawaiian Islands. The proposal calls for issuing a local tsunami alert for temblors as small as magnitude 6.7, said Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the center. Currently, the warning criteria call for tsunami alerts for earthquakes that are magnitude 6.9 or greater.
Louisiana: Police officers surrender
Seven policemen charged in a deadly shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina turned themselves in Tuesday at the New Orleans city jail. Each of the men faces at least one charge of murder or attempted murder in the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings on the Danziger Bridge in which two people died and four people were wounded.
Mayor-elect’s death ruled a suicide
The death of first black mayor-elect in Westlake was a suicide, the coroner said Tuesday, the day he was to take office. Gerald Washington, 57, was found shot to death Saturday night in the parking lot of a former high school with a pistol nearby. A motivation wasn’t immediately known.
N.Y.: Rescue from subway tracks
A quick-thinking commuter saved a teenager who fell on the subway tracks by pushing him down into a trough between the rails, allowing an approaching train to pass right over them with 2 inches to spare, police said. An 18-year-old man had some kind of medical problem Tuesday and fell onto the tracks, which are a few feet below platform level, police said. Wesley Autrey, of Manhattan, saw him fall and jumped down onto the tracks after him and rolled with him into the rut between the rails.
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