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Stop Loss - Bush’s Infamous Back-door Draft

By Michael Lang on Mar 31, 2008 in BEHAVIOR DOESN'T LIE

The recent release of the movie “” will no doubt raise the public’s awareness to Mr. Bush’s unconscionable policy of keeping our military on a short leash, ready (or not) and willing (or not) to return to active duty status when he and the Bush Crime Family sees fit.

This policy of expecting two, three and sometimes four tours of duty is often referred to as a “back door” to the draft system used during the Vietnam War. It is a sneaky, and in my opinion, slimy way to avoiding the public outcry that would ensue if Bush started drafting kids off of college campuses and out of the homes of wealthy Republican patrons.

CAN’T HAVE THAT…NOW CAN WE?

I was 15 years old in 1969 when I and the peers of my generation took to the streets and enthusiastically marched against the Vietnam War in the hopes of ending the atrocities, many of which did not come to light until years later. There are many similarities between that war and another illegally waged war, the war in Iraq.

For the edification on my readers, I will elaborate on this “stop loss” policy that you are sure to hear much more about in the coming weeks primarily as a result of the release of the movie with the same name.

Stop-loss, in the United States military, is the involuntary extension of a service member’s enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond the normal end term of service (ETS) or the ceasing of a permanent change of station (PCS) move for a member still in military service. It was first significantly used just before and during the first Persia Gulf War. Since then, it has been used during American military deployments to Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo but was never used as an ongoing policy until Bush instituted it as standard operating procedure (SOP).

The law states in part: "… the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States"

THERE’S MORE: The Armed Forces Enlistment Contract states, "In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless the enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States." Furthermore, every person who enlists in any branch of the Armed Forces signs an initial contract with an eight (8) year obligation, regardless of how many years of active duty the person enlists for.

ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE INDENTURED SERVITUDE!

THERE IS MORE, If you can stomach it!

Stop-loss was created by the United States Congress after the Vietnam War. It has been used on the legal basis of Title 10, United States Code, Section 12305(a) which states in part: "… the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States"

Stop-loss, as well as the practice of "involuntary extension", has been controversial. In a campaign speech in 2004, former presidential candidate John Kerry described stop-loss as a "backdoor draft." The use of stop-loss has been criticized by activists and some politicians as an abuse of the spirit of the law, on the basis that Congress has not declared war, such as is the case in the Iraq War.

During August 2007, Iraq Veterans Against the War, an activist organization of former and current service members, announced a national "Stop the Stop-Loss" campaign at a press conference where they were holding a week-long vigil in a tower erected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Other anti-Stop-Loss vigils have occurred around the country.

On March 10 and 11, 2008, a group of college students, supported by Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War, as well as several other organizations, issued symbolic stop-loss "orders" to every member of both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in protest of both the practice of stop-losing and of the Iraq War. On March 12, 2008, the students "enforced" the orders by blocking off the exits to the parking garages of the Rayburn House Office Building and the Hart Senate Office Building.

We hope that these actions are only the beginning and that more citizens openly express their outrage over this obviously dishonest policy of funneling our children into an illegal and immoral war.