8/23/2004

The only other officer from the swift boats incident speaks.
With intensive troop engagements in the Middle East the White House faces a conundrum, how can troop levels be maintained and still win the election?

The recent troop realignment plan potentially offers some deployment flexibility. Some Democrats have suggested a draft to keep troop levels at necessary levels, but it's the Bush administration's use of the "stop-loss" program that is generating controversy.

After the 9/11 attacks the Pentagon implemented a stop-loss program intended to keep seasoned soldiers in the military. It's based on an emergency provision that can enacted during extraordinary circumstances. Some consider this policy to be in actuality a back door draft. Now a soldier, known as John Doe, is suing Donald Rumsfeld claiming the program is illegal.

The lawsuit asserts the emergency policy instituted in the wake of the September 11 attacks was "invalid" because the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein has been removed from power and "Iraq cannot be considered to pose a threat of terrorist attack upon the United States."

Some believe the legal merits of the case are specious at best, but since this is an issue largely driven by politics, public opinion matters. The White House and America struggle to balance decreasing troop levels, increasing military engagements, and the sense of fairness that defines who we are.