About General Pace

Remember General Pace? He's President Bush's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and last month, he called homosexuality "immoral" and defended the U.S. military's policy banning openly gay servicemembers, stating, "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way." The Washington Post denounced Pace's "public expressions of intolerance." The New York Times called his words "bigoted," "offensive," and "wrong in every way." His comments were also condemned by the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John W. Warner (R-VA), and by a group of seven retired, highly-decorated military officers, each with more than 20 years of experience serving their country.

In an op-ed entitled "Bigotry that Hurts Our Military," former Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-WY), longtime Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee, called Pace's statements "completely out of the mainstream of American thinking" and said, "he should know better than to assert this opinion as the basis for policy of a military that represents and serves an entire nation." Eric Alva, the first U.S. military service member wounded in Iraq, who has since come out of the closet, said in a statement, "This policy — and General Pace’s bigotry — is outdated, unnecessary and counter to the same American values our soldiers are giving their lives for each and every day."