McCain win might stop sons from deployingBy Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 10, 2008 7:45:09 EDT
Sen. John McCain’s run for the White House could make him the first president in generations to have children in the active-duty military, casting a unique spotlight on his two sons and their careers in uniform.
Lance Cpl. Jimmy McCain, 19, joined the infantry in December 2006 and returned from his first tour in Iraq a few weeks ago. His older brother, John “Jack” McCain, 21, will graduate from the Naval Academy this year and may join the Corps as a second lieutenant.
Having a famous father is already drawing attention to the young men. But if the Arizona lawmaker were elected commander in chief in November, their fame would likely raise questions about how — or even if — they could deploy alongside other Marines.
“Can you imagine the propaganda value if a president’s child were to be captured and appear on an al-Qaida video?” said Jim Currie, a professor of national security studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
“He could become a lightning rod of aggressive actions against his unit,” Currie said. “He becomes a ‘high-value target’ and all of a sudden, that unit is not like every other unit that’s doing the same thing.”
Rest of article at:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/marine_mccainskids_030808/