Army Official: Go Slow on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Army Chief of Staff George Casey doesn't support a congressional moratorium on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" while the Defense Department studies the issue. Casey also told a Senate panel he had "serious concerns" over the effects of allowing gay troops to serve openly while the nation's forces fight two extended wars, the LA Times reports. The Air Force chief of staff, Norton Schwartz, told a House panel essentially the same thing, notes AP.

"I do have serious concerns about the impact of repeal of the law on a force that is fully engaged in two wars and has been at war for eight and half years," said Casey. "We just don't know the impacts on readiness and military effectiveness." Added John McCain in response: "Exactly." (More Don't Ask, Don't Tell stories.)