CNN news 2010-02-07 加文本

2010-02-07 cnn

Right now Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Capitol Hill discussing lifting the ban on gays serving in the armed forces. It's the first major step in that direction since the 1993 policy "Don't Ask Don't Tell" ignited the firestorm.

Here's cnn's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, cnn PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The president made his intentions clear.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This year I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.

STARR: But the stone-faced Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't react to the sensitive matter. We now know more about what they are thinking.

A senior Pentagon official tells cnn the chiefs are expected to support the president but they will tell him to what they extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and readiness of the force.

The official says of the chiefs, "All they want is a little bit time," to come up with their ideas on how to implement a change in the law if it's approved by Congress.

As a first step, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to call for no longer discharging people who are outed by others. Over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. Defense officials privately say the appetite to enforce the law is declining.

Many say the debate now is to how live with the change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One school of thought says just do it. It won't be that big of deal.

STARR: Existing regulations governing sexual behavior may be enough to allay concerns about living in close quarters. But that may not work for everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can talk about this delicately or we can just be fairly direct. There are a lot of 18-year-olds, old- fashioned, testosterone-laden men in the military who are tough guys. They are often politically old fashioned or conservative. They are not necessarily at…