CNN 2010-02-07

Right now Defense¹ 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 repeal² the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.

STARR: But the stone-faced Joint³ 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 morale⁴ and readiness of the force.

The official says of the chiefs, "All they want is a little bit of time," to come up with their ideas on how to implement⁵ 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 privately⁶ say the appetite to enforce the law is declining.

Many say the debate now is how to 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 allay⁷ 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…
 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。