The ever-debated, over-chewed, controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ” policy, must now be reevaluated in light of a thought-provoking essay written by Air Force Col. Om Prakash of the office of the defense secretary, published this month.

In “The Efficacy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Prakash argues there is no evidence to justify this policy, which in fact, does more harm than good.

DADT was implemented during the Clinton administration as a middle ground between the ban on homosexuals serving in the military, which had been in place, and a move to allow them to openly serve. The compromise said homosexuals could remain in the military as long as their sexuality was not discovered. But this policy, Prakash writes, “has led to an uncomfortable value disconnect as homosexuals serving, estimated to be over 65,000, must compromise personal integrity.”

So why does DADT say homosexuals should not openly serve?

The reason cited by law, which Prakash so simply and successfully refutes, is that homosexual soldiers would undermine “unit cohesion, that is, the bonds of trust among individual service members that make the combat effectiveness of a military unit greater than the sum of the combat effectiveness of the individual unit members.”

But as Prakash points out, polls and surveys have shown that increasing numbers of military personnel know they are serving with homosexuals in their units. Another poll, conducted by The Washington Post, shows that 75 percent of Americans believe that homosexuals should serve openly in the military.

The bottom line is, today’s soldiers really don’t care if their comrades are gay, and neither does the general population. Our generation is much more accepting of gays and lesbians than ever before.

Prakash also argues that while people may think homogeneity breeds unit cohesion, which breeds combat success, it’s actually the other way around. Success in battle brings a unit together. And success is a result of hard work, leadership and dedication.

Since homosexual soldiers do not have an easy time in the army, the ones who choose to serve are likely very dedicated to military values. Thus, kicking them out only hurts the military. Since 1994, an estimated 12,500 soldiers have been discharged from military for “telling,” according to Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military’s independent news source.

It turns out, that if we look at other countries that have repealed their bans on homosexuals serving such as Australia, Britain, Canada and Israel, we find no resulting chaos or disorder. Military performance didn’t change much at all.

If Prakash is right in his interpretation of the evidence, which I believe he is, this means there is absolutely no justification for DADT. Maybe you believe that homosexuals shouldn’t serve in the army for moral, religious or homophobic reasons, but although I forcefully disagree, either position is completely irrelevant to DADT, which claims to be for pragmatic reasons.

And since the pragmatic justification has been demonstrated to be false, then keeping “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” around is pure discrimination and compromises the effectiveness of the U.S. military. It must be repealed.

During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama said he would work to change the policy, but so far, not much has been done. Now is the time to change this outdated and harmful law so the U.S. military can achieve more of its potential greatness and so homosexuals will no longer be subject to this unjustified discrimination.