According to Steve Clemons ( a gay defender of Hagel) Hagel thought that firing Arabic translators

[dsc]

under DADT was a horrible waste. Now this took place over several years but as early as 2005, there were government reports detailing just what a waste this was. Like this one http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6824206/ns/us_news-security/t/report-more-gay-linguistsdischarged-first-thought/#.UOt_26xSp1E

Between 1998 and 2004, the military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers, according to Department of Defense data obtained by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military under a Freedom of Information Act request.

end of quote

It continued into 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/opinion/08benjamin.html

The lack of qualified translators has been a pressing issue for some time — the Army had filled only half its authorized positions for Arabic translators in 2001. Cables went untranslated on Sept. 10 that might have prevented the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Today, the American Embassy in Baghdad has nearly 1,000 personnel, but only a handful of fluent Arabic speakers.

I was an Arabic translator. After joining the Navy in 2003, I attended the Defense Language Institute, graduated in the top 10 percent of my class and then spent two years giving our troops the critical translation services they desperately needed. I was ready to serve in Iraq.

But I never got to. In March, I was ousted from the Navy under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which mandates dismissal if a service member is found to be gay.

end of quote

So my question is, just where was Senator Hagel while this was going on? Why, oh why, didn't he say something about this? He was perfectly capable of opening his mouth in 1998 and in 2001. Why the silence in 2005 and 2007?

[dsc]

1. kick

[closeupready]

2. As a gay person, I'm not understanding who or what I'm supposed to be

angry about here. If anything, DADT was Colin Powell and Bill Clinton's faults. Hagel may have opposed the policy, but being a Senator is a multi-tasking job, and he probably was doing other things at the time.

I would rather Obama nominate a Democrat, but if Barney Frank is okay with Hagel, then I guess that's okay with me.

[dsc]

3. Colin Powell yes Bill Clinton no

If Clinton had it his way there would have been open service in 1993. As to the other point. Hagel was on the Armed Forces Committee and supposedly was upset our war effort was being harmed by a bigoted policy and sat silent. I can't imagine what more important thing he was doing.

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. It was Sam Nunn's fault, Clinton went along with it because he knew he couldn't win

[moondust]

4. Everybody knew it was a waste, including the military.

I know from personal experience that years ago the army had, and may still have, an Army Regulation on the books stating that DLI graduates must work in positions that utilize their language training, presumably because of the training's relatively high cost to taxpayers and to use them otherwise would be a big waste.

Maybe the question should be: Did any Senators speak up about it or did they just accept it as policy enforced under DADT? Was Hagel more silent than everybody else? I don't remember.

[dsc]

6. again this supposedly bothered him

It is precisely people like him who needed to speak out. Goldwater managed it in 93. Cheney managed it in to some extent in 92. Neither one of those were flaming liberals.