A previously undisclosed report by the inspector general of the Department of Defense concludes that the fix – maybe even handed down by the White House – was in before the military ever started asking soldiers and sailors about how opening the ranks to homosexuals would affect the nation's defense.
For background, read Homosexual Behavior in Military Would be Deadly
UPDATE 2/22/12: Navy sued over manipulation of 'gay' data
-- From "How Congress was duped into repealing military homosexual ban" by Frank J. Gaffney Jr., The Washington Times 6/28/11
We now know [the repeal] was a gambit made possible by deliberate efforts by senior executive branch officials to mislead Congress into taking a step that the administration’s own surveys had established would be deeply injurious to the U.S. military. Thanks to the release of a previously undisclosed Defense Department inspector general’s (IG) investigation report . . .
Evidently, this misconduct was deemed necessary because, even with control of both the House and Senate in friendly hands, President Obama required Republican votes in the upper chamber to secure passage of his repeal initiative. In order to garner the support of swing GOP senators, they would have to be given political cover on a key question: How would the military respond to such a dramatic change in its traditions, culture and code of conduct?
The IG report makes clear that a skewed response was manufactured and leaked to friendly journalists by top Pentagon and White House officials. Specifically, an executive summary of a Defense Department survey was written by the department’s general counsel, Jeh C. Johnson, before the survey was even begun on July 7, 2010. It prompted one reviewer - a “former news anchor” whom Mr. Johnson allowed to see his draft over the July Fourth weekend - to tell the IG he was “struck by how many members of the United States Armed Services thought this was just fine.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Probe into leak of ‘don’t ask’ report fails to identify Post’s sources" by Jason Ukman, Washington Post 6/28/11
A Defense Department investigation has failed to identify the individuals who leaked information to The Washington Post about a draft report on the potential impact of allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered an investigation into the leak in November shortly after The Post published a front-page story saying that the report had concluded that the military could lift the ban on gays serving openly in uniform with only minimal and isolated incidents of risk.
The report had been closely guarded, and officials condemned what they described as the premature release of its findings.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "'Don't ask' leak can't be traced by Department of Defense Inspector General" by Burgess Everett, Politico 6/28/11
The investigative report, which was written in April but surfaced online Monday via the Center for Military Readiness is labeled “for official use only.” It shows numerous emails from Washington Post reporters Ed O’Keefe and Greg Jaffe under scrutiny from investigators.
O’Keefe and Jaffe wrote on Nov. 10, 2010, a story sourced by two people with close knowledge of what the IG called an “eyes-only” report, made available to several dozen people either in draft form or orally. The Post story reported that a Pentagon group had concluded that overturning the 1993 military policy during wartime posed minimal risk. Because that “Eyes-Only” report was for official use only, the Department of Defense investigated the leak - unauthorized disclosure of such information is prohibited.
As early as July 4, 2010, DoD General Counsel Jeh Johnson read some of the draft to a friend, a former television news anchor, according to the IG report, which concluded that there was “no evidence that the Secretary of Defense approved the sharing of information with this former news anchor.”
The IG investigation also revealed that in addition to 55 “eyes-only” readers and 26 additional authorized readers who were exposed to the Pentagon report, 15 people not authorized to read the report had access to the draft or had the report read to them.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Feds find fix was in on 'study' of homosexuality in ranks" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 6/27/11
It was that [November 2010 leaked] report that famously was quoted as affirming "70 percent" of the nation's military members believe the repeal of the long-standing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" practice of allowing homosexuals to serve as long as they kept their sexual lifestyle choices to themselves would have either "a neutral or positive impact on unit cohesion, readiness, effectiveness and morale."
A source provided the IG report, which aimed to determine who prematurely released information about the study, to Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness. Donnelly analyzed the documentation and warned that it suggests Congress was deceived, probably deliberately, by those with a pro-repeal agenda.
Congress then voted during its lame-duck session last winter for the repeal.
"Contrary to most news accounts, the 'Comprehensive Review Working Group' process was not a 'study,'" [Donnelly] told WND. "Its purpose was to circumvent and neutralize military opposition to repeal of the law."
According to her analysis, the study "was a publicly funded pre-scripted production put on just for show."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
