Hightower Lowdown

At a time when American field commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan say they need every single soldier they can get hold of, thousands of our battle-ready troops are being held back in the U.S. Why not deploy them? Because the Pentagon brands them "security risks."

That conjures up images of soldiers unwilling to fight --maybe because they have sympathies for the bad guys. But, no, these folks' only "crime" is that they've fallen deeply into debt here at home.

Like other Americans, military people can have an illness, go through a divorce, or just get caught in a credit-card crunch. But troops face an additional hazard: predatory "payday lenders," which are chains of quick-money outfits that cluster around military bases and lure soldiers to borrow against their next paychecks at exorbitant interest rates.

When debt payments reach about a third of a soldier's paycheck, military brass designate the debtor as a risk and yank security clearances, which knocks out duty abroad. The Pentagon's rationale is that soldiers in debt might be tempted to sell secrets or military equipment to the enemy. More than 6,300 members of the Air Force, Navy, and Marines have lost their clearances in a recent four-year period for financial reasons. However, the real total is much larger, since the Army--which employs the vast majority of our troops--refuses to release its numbers.

Instead of branding troops for life as security risks, Pentagon top dogs should work with these good soldiers to refinance their loan-shark debts with long-term loans at a low--or even zero--interest rate.