Pentagon OKs tobacco in combat

Everyone knows that we all would be better off if no one smoked. It would prevent a lot of premature deaths and save a lot of money on medical and insurance bills. And it's nice to enjoy a nice piece of salmon in a good restaurant without having to inhale someone's second-hand smoke.

But telling someone to quit who is at risk of getting his or her tail shot off or walking by an exploding car might be too much. So, the Pentagon told its troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones.

Eventually, the military might become nonsmoking but that is a long way down the road, maybe 20 years or more. The Pentagon has had plans before to reduce or ban smoking in the military with little success. A 1999 plan to reduce smoking rates by 5 percent a year and reduce chewing tobacco use to 15 percent by 2001 fell flat.

The press secretary for the Defense Department said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates "knows that the situation they (soldiers) are confronting is stressful enough as it is. I don't think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress."

Of course, smoking in combat zones will make it more difficult to quit smoking when the soldiers return. That has been a problem in every war.

Maybe getting the recruits to quit during basic training and at the service academies would be a good place to start the nonsmoking policy.