Anomaly in Arms: Candidates' Children May Face Combat Duty

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

Anomaly in Arms: Candidates' Children May Face Combat Duty
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
September 5, 2008; Page A6

WASHINGTON -- Regardless of who wins this November's election, the U.S. is about to have its "Prince Harry" moment. It's been decades since the child of an American president or vice president served in the military at a time of war. But in a historical anomaly, three of the four candidates atop the two parties' tickets have children who are likely to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan in coming months. That means the Pentagon will soon have to decide how far to go to keep the sons of Sen. John McCain, Gov. Sarah Palin or Sen. Joe Biden safe while they're at war. It's a particularly acute issue for Jimmy McCain and Track Palin, whose careers in the infantry mean they stand to be sent to the front lines.

American allies such as Britain and Israel have regularly seen their leaders' children performing military service in times of war. Britain's Prince Harry, the younger of the two sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, spent several months fighting in Afghanistan before being rushed home this year after his deployment was disclosed by the media. The U.S. hasn't had to face the question since the 1940s and may be forced to largely make up new rules on the fly. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four sons all served as Army officers during World War II.

The guerrilla wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pose a different set of risks from the more traditional fighting in World War II. Some U.S. commanders worry that insurgents in both countries would see a presidential or vice-presidential child as an irresistible target for kidnapping or assassination... Pentagon officials declined to comment about any potential plans to safeguard Messrs. McCain, Palin or Biden, citing security concerns. "The department has not confronted this situation in recent years," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "However we would certainly consider all factors should such a circumstance arise."

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Army officials declined to say whether any protective measures will be put in place when Private First Class Track Palin, a member of the 25th Infantry Division, deploys to Iraq's Diyala Province in a few weeks. The Army also declined to comment about its plans for Capt. Beau Biden, a military lawyer slated to deploy to Iraq in October as part of the Delaware National Guard.

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Military service by a presidential child all but disappeared in subsequent decades, a function of the military's transition to an all-volunteer force and historical accident as few recent presidents had military-age sons.



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