Stop Loss

[Piña]

STOP-LOSS. Remember the term.

If you care about the troops, you must learn more about the truth regarding this latest Army initiative.

Put simply, stop-loss is a policy that prevents thousands of troops from leaving the Army after their contracts end. It is an involuntary extension that is sending many of our troops to a war zone in Iraq or Afghanistan--for a second time. With stop-loss in place, troops can't retire, they can't go back to school, they can't move on with their life.

John Kerry has called it a "back door draft" and a "draft in disguise".

Exactly.

This sneaky, unfair policy erodes the very foundation of our volunteer army and destroys troop morale. It undermines America's relationship with the troops and crushes their already exhausted families. It also conveniently prevents thousands of troops from returning to civilian life and speaking out about the war--just in time for the November election. How interesting.

Like the use of private contractors, stop-loss is yet another way President Bush is trying to meet the true manpower shortages in Iraq without asking any additional people to sacrifice. It is yet another example of how he and his people underestimated the cost of war and messed up the plan.

Yet again, the troops and their families are getting screwed in the this war--this time with stop-loss.

And you probably didn't even know about it.

Get involved. Call for an end to stop-loss. Pass the word on to your friends, family, politicians--whomever.

Support the troops by speaking out for them when they can't.

Let people know--stop-loss is wrong.

CBS News 60 Minutes ran a damaging story on this subject Wednesday night. Check it out!

60 Minute's Story Active Duty: No Way Out

From Paul Rieckhoff's Operation Truth website

[jumper69]

No Pina. Stop loss has been around long before we were ever in the service and it'll be around long after we're dead. It's not a new policy. It has been invoked previously before the war ever started.

Its use is to keep folks in critical specialities in position until replacements can be trained. That is is PEACETIME.

In war time all bets are off. Do you think we'd have won WWII if people were bitching because they had to spend one year in Europe.

Troops are in it for the DURATION!

Whether you agree with why we're at war or not. Soldiers fight wars. That's what we're for. I knew it when I enlisted and you should have known it when you served.

I will agree that the government underestimated the number of troops needed despite good advice from their generals. That's water under the bridge now.

The troops will stay until the job is done or their units are rotated.

Period.

In fact...this whole thread really pisses me off. Hack shows like 60 minutes et al. always seem to portray one side of a story like stop loss. They'll interview a few fucking pussies who can't hang and all of the sudden it is indentured servitude. Well you know what? It is. Troops stay until it's over!

UNTIL IT'S OVER!!!!! What's so fucking hard to understand about that?

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ June 22, 2004 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Jumper69 ]</font>

[Emperor Napoleon]

Wasn't the same thing done in WWII, Korea, and VietNam? I know at the time a draft was already in place but volunteers were also in "for the duration" which is where the phrase originated if I'm not mistaken?

[jumper69]

DO NOT call for an end to stop loss. If you want to end this war, then call for the gloves to come off. Time to stop fighting the war with one hand on our dick and the other reading public opinion polls.....

Mother fucks

[Emperor Napoleon]

In fact, the more I think about it, President Lincoln applied the same measure during the Civil War 140 years ago.

I think anyone who has to serve an extended tour of duty should get an additional retirement benefit or additional survivor benefits though.

[Piña]

Jumper you misunderstand my posting.

I agree that if we are going to continue in Iraq that we get rid of the incompetents who planned this farce.

Personally I think the deserter in chief should step up to the plate and admit that he fucked up royally and call for an immediate return of the draft so that we have enough troops so that our soldiers can rotate out of combat areas rather than being faced with indefinite tours.

Somehow I don't think he'll do it.

[Piña]

Originally posted by Sea Gull:
I think anyone who has to serve an extended tour of duty should get an additional retirement benefit or additional survivor benefits though.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">An interesting opinion considering that the bush misadminstration is doing everything it can to cut benefits for veterans.

To say nothing of undersupplying our troops literally to death.

[Emperor Napoleon]

Originally posted by Pi?a:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Sea Gull:
I think anyone who has to serve an extended tour of duty should get an additional retirement benefit or additional survivor benefits though.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">An interesting opinion considering that the bush misadminstration is doing everything it can to cut benefits for veterans.

To say nothing of undersupplying our troops literally to death.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And that is wrong. But I don't see Kerry looking out for our troops any better.

[Piña]

Originally posted by Sea Gull:
And that is wrong. But I don't see Kerry looking out for our troops any better.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">So your response to bush is screwing our troops is "buh buh buh Kerry isn't helping!"

bush is actively destroying our support system for our soldiers, sailors and marines. He is right now cutting benefits and shutting down VA hospitals. He is an active threat.

[Piña]

Jumper wrote:
Hack shows like 60 minutes et al. always seem to portray one side of a story like stop loss.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Uhm, did you even glance at the 60 minutes story? Not only were they not one sided but I think they tended to be marginally supportive of the stop loss policy.

My point was not that stop loss is wrong, per se. My point is that this administration cares so little about our troops and is so incompetent that stop loss is being utilized not to keep "certain specialties" where they are needed but to act as a smoke screen to fool the public about the real cost of bush's invasion.

Jumper, bush does not care how many die as long as he can look good. This application of stop loss is the body bag equivalent of the increasing national debt.

Properly used stop loss is neceassary. What is taking place is not business as usual but politics getting our men and women killed.