General Jones on Obama's DADT Timing

National Security Adviser James Jones was asked about President Obama's plans for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on Sunday, and he told CNN host John King that the president would "take on" the policy at "the appropriate time."

King, host of State of the Union, asked Jones about the president's campaign promise to change the policy, following a week in which Sen. Harry Reid sent letters to Obama and Defense secretary Robert Gates soliciting their advice on repeal.

"Is it time now, as soon as possible, to change that policy?" asked King.

"The president has an awful lot on his desk," said Jones. "I know this is an issue that he intends to take on at the appropriate time, and he has already signaled that to the Defense Department. The Defense Department is doing the things it has to do to prepare, but at the right time, I'm sure the president will take it on," he said.

"No idea when the right time is?" asked King.

"I don't think it's going to be, it's not years, but I think, I think, it'll be teed up appropriately," said Jones.

Also last week, it was reported that a forthcoming article in Joint Force Quarterly, the Pentagon's top scholarly journal, would call for an end to the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.