The Backdoor Draft

The stop-loss policy allows the military to extend a soldier’s contract, forcing them to serve a longer term than they originally signed up for. With the war in its fifth year and the rising resent towards the military, the stop-loss policy has heavily come into play.

According to Lieutenant General James D. Thurman, with the current high demand for soldiers there are now more than 12,000 soldiers serving under the stop-loss policy. He states “if demand stabilized at around 15 brigades, the use of stop-loss could be completed by the end of the budget year 2009, or beginning budget year 2010.”

In 2004, a California Army National Guard soldier sued the government over the stop-loss policy. His suit went against Bush’s executive order of the deployment of troops for the prevention of terrorist attacks on the United States. It stated “the change of government in Iraq (removal of Saddam Hussein) removed the threat there (United States).” Unfortunately this anonymous soldier, who previously served nine years in the Army and Marine Corps and suffers from post-traumatic stress, lost the court case and was deployed to Iraq. His court case can be found on the following link: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/D418158D930E7F78882570F4000815CD/$file/0515680.pdf?openelement.

This year, Hilary Clinton proposes to end the stop-loss policy, ensuring that the Department of Defense abides by contracts made with soldiers. Whether this becomes true if she is elected is a different story.

Sources:
Info:
Army Needs 'Stop-Loss' Until '09, General Says

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/04/22/army_needs_stop_loss_until_09_general_says/
Soldier Sues Over Tour Made Longer

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E1DD113FF93BA2575BC0A9629C8B63
Clinton Proposes End to Stop-Loss Policy

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/09/clinton_proposes_end_to_stop-loss_policy/1244/

Pics:
http://www.firstshowing.net/img/stoploss-flag.jpg
http://www.aolcdn.com/aolnews_photos/08/05/20080422105909990018