Pentagon: Gays to Serve Openly ASAP

The Pentagon has announced it will begin training to implement the new law allowing gays to serve openly in the military in February, but would not guarantee the new policy would be fully rolled out this year. “There's nothing that tells us that it's not reachable, but we have to allow for the fact that we may discover something between now and then,” a Pentagon spokesman said. The announcement contradicts President Barack Obama’s declaration in the State of the Union address this week that repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would be finalized this year. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a memo Friday that he wants the new policy in place as soon as possible: "Harassment or unlawful discrimination of any member of the armed forces for any reason will not be tolerated," he said.