Pentagon Survey: Dropping ‘DADT’ Wouldn’t Cause Wartime Strife

Posted on Nov 11, 2010

Flickr / The U.S. Army (CC-BY)

President Obama, pictured here saluting a sailor at a naturalization ceremony at the White House in April, expects to receive the Pentagon’s report Dec. 1.

The findings summarized in a lengthy report that the Pentagon is preparing to send to President Obama about the potential effects of repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy have been relayed to The Washington Post ahead of the game, and from the (secondhand) look of it, the policy’s days may well be numbered if the Department of Defense heeds those findings.  —KA

The Washington Post:

More than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops over the summer said the effect of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, said two sources familiar with the document. The survey results led the report’s authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them.

One source, who has read the report in full, summarized its findings in a series of conversations this week. The source declined to state his position on whether to lift the ban, insisting it did not matter. He said he felt compelled to share the information out of concern that groups opposed to ending the ban would mischaracterize the findings. The long, detailed and nuanced report will almost certainly be used by opponents and supporters of repeal legislation to bolster their positions in what is likely to be a heated and partisan congressional debate.

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