As the Pentagon prepares to survey soldiers about President Obama’s decision to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), a new poll of military personnel who served in the Afghanistan or Iraq war finds that sexual orientation is “not a burning issue that overwhelms veterans’ lives.” The poll, commissioned by Vet Voice Foundation and conducted jointly by Republican and Democratic pollsters, finds that most veterans are “comfortable around gay and lesbian people, believe that being gay or lesbian has no bearing on a service member’s ability to perform their duties, and would find it acceptable if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military.” Fifty-eight percent of veterans said they served alongside gays or lesbians, and only 22 percent thought they had not. A full 73 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said it is “personally acceptable to them if gay and lesbian people were allowed to serve openly in the military,” and only a quarter objected. The survey, which included samples 45 percent self-identified Republicans and 20 percent self-identified Democrats, suggests that support for ending DADT cuts across party and ideological lines. Yesterday, during a hearing before the Armed Services Committee, General David Petraeus said that he believes “the time has come to consider a change to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” yet he asked that the change be done in a “thoughtful and deliberative manner that should include the conduct of the review that Secretary Gates has directed that would consider the views in the force on the change of policy.”