Is the end of "don't ask, don't tell"? in sight?

It's become a truism that American attitudes on gay rights are changing at a rapid clip. Supporting civil unions -- now a compromise position -- almost endangered the career of then-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as recently as 2000. And that was Vermont. Now, a mere nine years later, the Pentagon appears to be signaling that it's ready to give up on the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy regarding gays in the military.

The evidence is mainly in the form of an article denying DADT's usefulness, published by the National Defense University's Joint Forces Quarterly. The essay, written by Col. Om Prakash, argues that there is “no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly.” Prakash, by the way, works in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the essay has received an award that goes out under the name of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen.