Defense Secretary Robert Gates: DADT Should Be Decided By Congress Not Court

Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented yesterday's injunction against enforcing DADT, saying the issue should be up to Congress, not the courts.

"I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training," Mr Gates said. "It has enormous consequences for our troops." Mr Gates' comments aboard a military aircraft came a day after US District Judge Virginia Phillips, in California, issued a permanent injunction forbidding the US military from enforcing the 17-year-old ban. At the White House on Wednesday, spokesman Robert Gibbs described "don't ask, don't tell" as "a policy that is going to end". But he declined to answer whether the Obama administration preferred to seek a stay of the injunction and appeal against the ruling. The US Department of Justice has 60 days to appeal but may opt not to do so.