Some gay activists fear that, given the welter of other issues confronting the president, he may be unwilling to expend time or political capital on this or other gay-rights initiatives. Their anxiety was exacerbated by Obama's refusal to intervene in the expulsion from the National Guard of Dan Choi, an Arabic-speaking Iraq war veteran who disclosed he was gay in a TV interview. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Choi's case showed that "don't ask, don't tell" is a failure, adding that Obama would work with Congress and the Pentagon on a new policy. But changes, he said, "require more than the snapping of one's fingers."