Last month, NBC’s Richard Engel reported that the Pentagon’s Working Group study of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had found that a majority of American troops would either not object to serving alongside openly gay troops or would raise any concerns directly with their gay peers, suggesting that repeal wouldn’t be nearly as disruptive as some conservative critics have suggested.

Now, two sources who have seen a copy of the survey — which is scheduled for release on December 1 — are telling the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe and Greg Jaffe that repeal will not disrupt the military during a time of war:

More than 70 percent of respondents to a survey sent to active-duty and reserve troops over the summer said the effect of repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be positive, mixed or nonexistent, said two sources familiar with the document. The survey results led the report’s authors to conclude that objections to openly gay colleagues would drop once troops were able to live and serve alongside them. [...]

The document totals about 370 pages and is divided into two sections. The first section explores whether repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” would harm unit readiness or morale. It cites the findings of a survey sent over the summer to 400,000 active-duty and reserve troops, a separate questionnaire sent to about 150,000 military spouses, the responses submitted to an anonymous online dropbox seeking comments, and responses from focus-group participants.

The second part of the report presents a plan for ending enforcement of the ban. It is not meant to serve as the military’s official instruction manual on the issue but could be used if military leaders agreed, one of the sources said.

The report, which the service chiefs received last week, also notes that while a majority of service members have signaled “no strong objections, a significant minority is opposed to serving alongside openly gay troops,” “40 percent of the Marine Corps is concerned about lifting the ban, according to one of the people familiar with the report.” On Saturday, Gen. James Amos, the new commandant of the Marine Corps, echoed this sentiment, telling reporters that repeal carried “risk.” Amos has also previously stated that the Marines’ sense of “discipline” and “leadership” are “going to carry the day for us should the law get changed” — despite any opposition from the ranks.

According to the Posts’ sources, “[t]he report also concludes that gay troops should not be put into a special class for equal employment or discrimination purposes” and “recommends few, if any, changes to policy covering military housing and benefits, because the military must abide by the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which does not recognize same-sex marriage.”

The report does not anticipate “a large ‘coming out’ by gay men and lesbians serving in uniform” once the policy is repealed.

Last night, Roll Call’s Jessica Brady reported that Republicans are abandoning the ongoing pre-conference meetings about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) out of fear that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will insert a provision repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell even if the Senate doesn’t include it in its version of the bill. In other words, the Republicans are sacrificing any opportunity to pass the NDAA and all of the pay increases and critical authorizations that with it because they’re are afraid of a provision that the Secretary of Defense has fully endorsed:

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) are in talks about how to move a defense authorization bill to the floor in the coming weeks. House Armed Services staff members, including Simmons, were also part of staff-level discussions to smooth out differences between the House and Senate bills in an effort to speed conference negotiations, McKeon spokesman Josh Holly said.
But without assurances from Pelosi’s office that the Speaker would not add repeal language back into the measure, House Republican staffers have fled those talks. [...]

According to Simmons’ e-mail, House Republicans fear Pelosi would still find a way to push the DADT repeal and abortion language even if the House considers a Senate-passed bill that is void of such language.
“The Speaker could simply create either a self-executing rule and re-attach DADT and abortion,” Simmons wrote to top staffers for Levin, McCain and House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.). “Since the majority had the votes before, it is safe to assume this would again pass in the House. Thus the House would send it back to the Senate where it would likely pass with DADT repeal and abortions included.”

None of this of course bodes very well for passing the NDAA in the lame duck (with or without the repeal amendment). But what’s stunning is that the GOP — the very same party that just a couple of years ago demonized Democrats for not supporting the troops and placing social policy ahead of the needs of the military — is now ignoring the calls of the Secretary of Defense in order to avoid the possibility that gay people would serve openly and proudly in the military.

AmericaBlog’s Joe Sudbay spots this statement from White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer in the National Journal’s Need-To-Know memo — a follow up on Monday’s release saying that the White House opposed stripping Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell from the National Defense Authorization Act:

DON’T ASK. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told National Journal that repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the military is “at least worth a shot” in the lame-duck session of Congress that starts next week. But lawmakers would have to hang around longer than some might like: The military’s study on the proposed repeal isn’t due till December 1.

The sentiment is also being echoed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI), a strong advocate of the amendment and the underlining bill. “We’re trying to get both things accomplished, and we just don’t know if we can,” Levin said after speaking to students at Aquinas College on Tuesday. “Republicans have filibustered the whole defense bill because of that provision. There’s some people who say that unless the defense bill has that provision, that we shouldn’t pass it. My position is, we should try to get both things done some way or another.” Levin’s comments come in the wake of reports that he is considering stripping the DADT provision from the NDAA in an effort to pass the overall bill.

Meanwhile, Sens. Joe Lieberman, Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Udall have issued a statement warning that if repeal is not passed in the lame duck session, the issue could be decided in the courts. Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates — who has also called on the Senate to act during the lame duck — echoed these comments, telling ABC’s Cynthia McFadden, “The question is whether it is done by legislation that allows us to do it in a thoughtful and careful way, or whether it is struck down by the courts. Because recent court decisions are certainly pointing in that direction.”