A repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Pentagon's 17-year-old ban on gays openly serving in the military, can be implemented now, even in wartime, with little if any risk to the military's ability to do its job, according to a Defense Department study released today.
As The New York Times reports, the results of the study dismissed or minimized concerns raised in Congress and some quarters of the military against President Barack Obama's plans to repeal the policy. The study's two authors, Army General Carter Ham and Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson, today wrote:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today in a statement:
Reaction came quickly online. Glynnis MacNicol of the Business Insider blog said:
But none of this means the policy will actually be repealed. In the study, nearly 70 percent of armed service members had no problems with gays or lesbians in their unit. But Rep. Buck McKeon of California, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, told the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:
