Following up: Botta reports for duty

Last weekend, I wrote about Erik Botta of Port St. Lucie, who was suing to avoid his fifth tour of duty overseas, after three stretches in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I noted at the time that he would have to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., on Sunday to avoid possible prosecution for desertion.

Well, Botta did report. And he may be deployed back to Iraq within as little as ten days.

"If there's any good news, it's that there was not a set deployment date set," [Botta's attorney] Mark Waple said.

In January, the Army granted the Port St. Lucie 26-year-old, who has been sent once to Afghanistan and three times to Iraq, an academic exemption from a fifth deployment after he began studying to become an electrical engineer. But the Army sent him new orders to report to Fort Jackson last week.

Waple called the Army's decision "arbitrary and capricious," noting that the Army has granted academic exemption in the past. "The Army's decision not to exempt him from this deployment and not to discharge him from the Army reserves is so arbitrary it has become unlawful," Waple said.

From the Bush crime syndicate's perspective, it's really very simple. Botta is still useful (read: ambulatory) and therefore remains an exploitable resource. It's only if he comes back in a box, or is unable to serve further, that the military will stop caring about him.