Repeal of ‘don’t ask’ policy isn’t likely soon

February 15, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As promised, the Pentagon has begun examining how the ban on gays serving openly could be eased and then repealed, but a complete repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is probably years away.

The two officials appointed to lead a yearlong internal assessment — Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, and Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson — met for the first time Thursday.

As that study gets under way, officials were expected by mid-March to suggest ways to relax enforcement of the law. Of particular interest is minimizing cases of “third-party outings,” where a service member is kicked out after being reported by others to be gay.

The protracted time line is about more than giving military leaders time to assess the impact on troops and put new rules in place. The multiyear process also is a strategic way of getting troops used to the idea before they have to accept change. Politically, the time line puts off congressional debate over lifting the ban until after elections this fall.

Reversing the military’s policy on gays, which is based on a 1993 law and would require an act of Congress, would mark the biggest upheaval to the military’s personnel policies since the 1948 executive order on racial integration.

The goal, according to senior defense and military officials, is to avoid the backlash that could result from imposing change too fast. While officials expect resistance from only a minority of service members and believe that it could be contained with discipline, officials fear isolated incidents of violence could erupt as a means of protest.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested as much in recent congressional testimony, when he said he had learned from “stupid” management attempts to dictate change too quickly as a senior CIA official in the 1980s.

“Stupid was trying to impose a policy from the top without any regard for the views of the people who were going to be affected or the people who would have to effect the policy change,” Gates said.

As part of the internal review, Gates said the military would survey service members and their families on any changes to policies.

President Barack Obama, who says the ban is unjust, is counting on a major cultural shift among American voters in the 17 years when it went into effect. Then, Democratic lawmakers joined the military in resisting a proposal by President Bill Clinton that would have let gays serve openly.

Clinton emerged from the debate politically bruised, with GOP critics casting the new president as a social liberal who was woefully out of touch with the military.