The first congressional study on the impact of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy says Hundreds of highly skilled troops, including many translators, have left the armed forces because of the Pentagon’s rules on gay men and lesbians, costing taxpayers nearly $200 million. The estimated cost was for recruiting and training replacements from 1994 through 2003 for the more than 9,400 troops discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps because of the policy. The study by the General Accountability Office was released yesterday. Congress approved “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993. It allows gay men and lesbians to serve as long as they do not disclose their sexual orientation. Of those who left, 757 held critical jobs for which the Pentagon offers re-enlistment bonuses because of their specialized nature, such as data processing technicians and translators. Many who were discharged had intelligence-related jobs. Also, 322 spoke foreign languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Korean, and Mandarin, which the Pentagon has called critical skills amid threats from terrorists. In December, 12 soldiers expelled from the military because of their sexual orientation sued the government, citing a Supreme Court ruling that state laws making gay sex a crime were unconstitutional. The Bush administration has asked a federal court to dismiss the suit.