WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon unveiled a study on Tuesday that predicted little impact if the U.S. military ended its ban on gays, bolstering President Barack Obama’s push to get Congress to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” by year-end.

Gay rights activists swiftly applauded the study, which dismissed or minimized concerns among some U.S. lawmakers and up to a third of the military about ending the policy.

Obama called for swift action by Congress, where he faces stiff opposition from Senate Republicans who are threatening to block him..

“I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally,” Obama said in a statement.

Still, top U.S. generals voiced concern about the fallout on U.S. forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned they would need plenty of time to prepare for integration of openly serving gays and lesbians.

“An abundance of care and preparation is required if we are to avoid a disruptive — and potentially dangerous — impact on the performance of those serving at the ‘tip of the spear’ in America’s wars,” Gates told reporters.

At least 13,000 men and women have been expelled from the military since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which allows gays to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation private, came into force in 1993.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The State Department has cut off a U.S. military computer network from its database of diplomatic cables after WikiLeaks obtained more than 250,000 such cables, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the system was the U.S. military’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, known as SIPRNet, believed to have been the ultimate source for the cables obtained by the whistleblower website.

The disclosure of the cables on Sunday by five media groups has been a severe embarrassment to the U.S. government because they describe the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy and contain candid, critical assessments of foreign leaders.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday voiced regret over the release of the classified information and she has spent much of the last week reaching out to foreign officials to try to limit damage from the disclosures.

Among the nuggets in the cables were reports that Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran and destroy its nuclear program.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said that maintaining the confidentiality of their dealings with foreign governments is vital to ensure people keep talking to them.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to play down the significance of the leaks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A repeal of the Pentagon’s ban on openly serving gays can be implemented now, even in wartime, with little risk to the military’s ability to do its job, according to a Defense Department study released on Tuesday.

The results of the study dismissed or minimized concerns raised in Congress and some quarters of the military against President Barack Obama’s plans to repeal the 17-year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — hopefully by the end of the year.

“We are both convinced that our military can do this, even during this time of war,” concluded study authors Army General Carter Ham and Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bars gays from serving openly in the military but allows them to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation secret, and its repeal has been one of Obama’s policy priorities.

Big gains by Republicans in the November 2 elections have raised doubts, however, about whether Obama can muster the votes to end the ban once the new Congress takes office in January. Opponents have argued its repeal would add strain on a military stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the event of repeal, the study recommended an aggressive education program and training for members of the U.S. armed forces. It opposed separate bathrooms or living quarters for gay or lesbian troops, a possibility raised in the past by some in the U.S. military.

The study noted the U.S. military had faced far stronger resistance to racial integration in the 1940s and 1950s, when the armed forces were emerging from World War Two and in the midst of Cold War tensions and the Korean War.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A repeal of the Pentagon’s ban on openly serving gays can be implemented now, even in wartime, with little risk to the U.S. military’s ability to do its job, according to a Defence Department study released on Tuesday.

The results of the study dismissed or minimized concerns raised in Congress and some quarters of the military against President Barack Obama’s plans to repeal the 17-year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — hopefully by the end of the year.

“We are both convinced that our military can do this, even during this time of war,” concluded study authors Army General Carter Ham and Defence Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bars gays from serving openly in the military but allows them to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation secret, and its repeal has been one of Obama’s policy priorities.

Big gains by Republicans in the November 2 elections have raised doubts, however, about whether Obama can muster the votes to end the ban once the new Congress takes office in January. Opponents have argued its repeal would add strain on a military stretched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the event of repeal, the study recommended an aggressive education program and training for members of the U.S. armed forces. It opposed separate bathrooms or living quarters for gay or lesbian troops, a possibility raised in the past by some in the U.S. military.

The study noted the U.S. military had faced far stronger resistance to racial integration in the 1940s and 1950s, when the armed forces were emerging from World War Two and in the midst of Cold War tensions and the Korean War.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House ordered tighter security on Monday to prevent leaks like the release of more than 250,000 State Department cables that have embarrassed the U.S. government and some of its allies.

Sunday’s release of documents obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks exposed the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy in recent years, including candid assessments of world leaders and disclosures on issues such as Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

U.S. authorities also were conducting a criminal investigation of the leak of classified documents, which WikiLeaks provided to five media groups that published reports on them, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Among the revelations was that Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran’s nuclear program. The documents cited him as saying: “cut off the head of the snake,” according to the Guardian newspaper of Britain.

The New York Times also reported impolitic comments about foreign leaders, including a description of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s head of state, as playing “Robin to (Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin’s Batman.”

The White House, which harshly condemned the release and said the disclosures may endanger U.S. informants abroad, ordered government agencies to tighten procedures for handling classified information.

The new procedures would ensure “that users do not have broader access than is necessary to do their jobs effectively,” and would put restrictions on the handling of classified material, according to a directive from the White House Office of Management and Budget released on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran’s nuclear program and China directed cyberattacks on the United States, according to a vast cache of U.S. diplomatic cables released on Sunday in an embarrassing leak that undermines U.S. diplomacy.

The more than 250,000 documents, given to five media groups by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, provide candid and at times critical views of foreign leaders as well as sensitive information on terrorism and nuclear proliferation filed by U.S. diplomats, according to The New York Times.

The White House condemned the release by WikiLeaks and said the disclosures may endanger U.S. informants abroad. WikiLeaks said its website was under attack and none of the underlying cables was visible there Sunday night, though some were posted by news organizations.

Among the revelations in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which also received an advance look at the documents along with France’s Le Monde, Germany’s Der Spiegel and Spain’s El Pais, King Abdullah is reported to have “frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program.”

“Cut off the head of the snake,” the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, quotes the king as saying during a meeting with U.S. General David Petraeus in April 2008.

The leaked documents, the majority of which are from 2007 or later, also disclose U.S. allegations that China’s Politburo directed an intrusion into Google’s computer systems, part of a broader coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by Chinese government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws, the Times reported.

MEDVEDEV “PLAYS ROBIN TO PUTIN’S BATMAN”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi King Abdullah has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran’s nuclear program and China directed cyberattacks on the United States, according to a vast cache of U.S. diplomatic cables released on Sunday in an embarrassing leak that undermines U.S. diplomacy.

The more than 250,000 documents, given to five media groups by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, provide candid, tart views of foreign leaders and sensitive information on terrorism and nuclear proliferation filed by U.S. diplomats, according to The New York Times.

Among the revelations in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which also received an advance look at the documents, King Abdullah is reported to have “frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program.”

“Cut off the head of the snake,” the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, quotes the king as saying, according to a report on Abdullah’s meeting with General David Petraeus in April 2008.

The leaked documents, the majority of which are from the last three years, also disclose U.S. allegations that China’s Politburo directed an intrusion into Google’s computer systems, part of a broader coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by Chinese government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws, the Times reported.

The newspaper also said documents report that Saudi donors remain chief financiers of Sunni militant groups like al Qaeda, and that the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar, a generous host to the U.S. military for years, was the “worst in the region” in counter-terrorism efforts, according to a State Department cable last December.

The newspaper said many of the cables name diplomats’ confidential sources, from foreign lawmakers and military officers to human rights activists and journalists, often with a warning: “Please protect” or “Strictly protect.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly exhorted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables.

A copy of the cable dated April 20, 2008, was published in the New York Times website on Sunday after being released by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The classified communication between the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and Washington showed the Saudis feared Shi’ite Iran’s rising influence in the region, particularly in neighboring Iraq.

The United States has repeatedly said that the military option is on the table, but at the same time U.S. military chiefs have made clear they view it as a last resort, fearing it could ignite wider conflict in the Middle East.

The April 2008 cable detailed a meeting between General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, and then U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and King Abdullah and other Saudi princes.

At the meeting, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir “recalled the King’s frequent exhortations to the U.S. to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program,” the cable said.

“He told you to cut off the head of the snake,” Jubeir was reported to have said.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, however, pushed for tougher sanctions instead, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending, although he did not rule out the need for military action.

WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly exhorted the United States to “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables.

A copy of the cable dated April 20, 2008, was published in the New York Times website on Sunday after being released by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The classified communication between the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and Washington showed the Saudis feared Shi’ite Iran’s rising influence in the region, particularly in neighboring Iraq.

The United States has repeatedly said that the military option is on the table, but at the same time U.S. military chiefs have made clear they view it as a last resort, fearing it could ignite wider conflict in the Middle East.

The April 2008 cable detailed a meeting between General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, and then U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and King Abdullah and other Saudi princes.

At the meeting, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir “recalled the King’s frequent exhortations to the U.S. to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program,” the cable said.

“He told you to cut off the head of the snake,” Jubeir was reported to have said.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, however, pushed for tougher sanctions instead, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending, although he did not rule out the need for military action.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Republican in the Senate denied on Sunday he was obstructing ratification of a new nuclear arms deal with Russia, saying Congress had bigger issues to work on before its Christmas recess.

Jon Kyl, the lead Republican negotiator on the New START treaty in the Senate, has exasperated the Obama White House by raising a series of challenges to the deal despite widespread support for it, including from the Pentagon, former Republican national security officials, European allies and arms control experts.

After negotiations with Kyl, the Obama administration agreed to spend more money to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but the senator told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program he still had a number of other concerns the Senate would not have time to deal with in the three weeks before the holiday recess.

He said the treaty was not a high priority for Congress, which returns this week after taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. More pressing priorities, he said, are whether to extend the Bush tax cuts due to expire at the end of December and a spending bill to allow the U.S. government to keep on running.

“There is not a time pressure to do this now as opposed to two months from now,” Kyl said.

President Barack Obama has pointed to the treaty as a cornerstone of his efforts to improve relations with Russia. Failure to ratify it could make Russia more reluctant to cooperate on Iran and Afghanistan, U.S. officials have warned.

The treaty, signed by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, commits the United States and Russia to cutting deployed nuclear weapons by about 30 percent — to no more than 1,550 — within seven years. It also includes verification measures.