American Legion: DADT Must Be Defended

The three million member American Legion today demanded that the Obama administration defend DADT and appeal its overturn.

"Consistent with our long-standing policy of allowing the military to police its own requirements and standards for service, The American Legion requests you appeal this decision and seek a stay on the current injunction," National Commander Jimmie L. Foster wrote in a letter to the White House. "No action by a single federal judge should obviate the policy of Don't Ask; Don't Tell before the Department of Defense completes its review." In meetings held in May, the organization passed a resolution urging Congress not to take any action that would alter the Department of Defense policy of DADT before it had a chance to complete the review. "For an unelected judge with lifetime tenure to issue such a ruling while the military was in the process of surveying its troops on the impact of such a policy change is outrageous," Foster said. "She is basically saying that she knows more than our military leadership, our Congress and our elected commander in chief."