Four Republican Congressmen this week sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urging him to not use “stop-loss” to ensure the Pentagon can send 21,000 additional troops to Iraq under President Bush’s new plan. Leading the “end stop-loss” charge, again—he did this last year, as well—is Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.). He is joined by Randy Kuhl (N.Y.), Steven LaTourette (Ohio), and James Ramstad (Minn.). (The Air Force and Navy early in the war on terror employed stop-loss, but the Army has continued the practice over the years.) The primary question posed to Gates by the legislators: How will the department provide the manpower for the surge?
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
