The federal court decision last Thursday holding unconstitutional the 1993 "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy that excludes openly gay people from the military may well presage a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 killing that policy once and for all. Unless Congress kills it first. The main reason: public assertions by both Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Obama that the anti-gay policy is not now necessary for unit cohesion-the reason given in 19

The federal court decision last Thursday holding unconstitutional the 1993 "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy that excludes openly gay people from the military may well presage a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 killing that policy once and for all. Unless Congress kills it first.

The main reason: public assertions by both Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Obama that the anti-gay policy is not now necessary for unit cohesion-the reason given in 1993 for excluding openly gay soldiers-and undermines military readiness.

The tradition of judicial deference to military and congressional judgments on military matters, which was cited by previous federal court decisions in favor of "don’t ask, don’t tell," offers little support for a discriminatory policy that the military’s civilian and uniformed leaders no longer defend and, indeed, seek to repeal. Especially when one House of Congress has already voted to repeal it, as the House of Representatives did in May.

To be sure, many in the military disagree with Obama. These include Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, who opposes any repeal, and to some extent the chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, who have urged a go-slow approach. But Conway retires this month. And Obama is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.