LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: An investigation by the inspector general at the Pentagon today finds harassment of gays and anti-gay speech commonplace at U.S. military facilities. CNN's military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now from the Pentagon. What's the story?</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT  (voice-over): Well, Lou, up until this moment, the Pentagon's official position was that its "don't ask, don't tell" policy was working, that it was allowing gays to serve in the U.S. military so long as they kept their sexual orientation private. But today in the face of this report from the Pentagon inspector general, they've had to admit it's not working, that in fact anti-gay harassment is commonplace in the U.S. military, although most of it comes in the form of verbal harassment or offensive speech. Today, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said the lesson of the report is that clearly, the Pentagon has more work to do.</s>KEN BACON, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: These offensive comments were tolerated to some extent within the military. The report also found that a substantial number of people, close to 40 percent, felt that they had witnessed or been a target of harassment for perceived homosexuality.</s>BACON: Investigators from the inspector general's office visited 38 bases and 11 ships, interviewed over 70,000 servicemen. They found that 80 percent of them had heard objectionable speech, and 37 percent believed that they had witnessed or experienced harassment based on sexual orientation. As a result, the secretary of defense is ordering a senior panel to come up with -- a panel of senior officers to come up with an action plan to send the message that this behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in the U.S. Military -- Lou.</s>WATERS: All right, Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. We'll continue to follow that. Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web
Pentagon Report Finds Harassment of Gays and Anti-Gay Speech Commonplace in the Military