Thursday, March 18, 2010

Calder, Stop-Loss


I think the policy of stop loss is reprehensible, if not unconstitutional. It amazed me how in those articles, they talked about how the policy was upheld multiple times in court. As many (including John Kerry) have said, the policy of stop loss is a "backdoor draft" where the military involuntarily extends the tours of duty of soldiers. In the 2008 film Stop-Loss the character SSgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) goes AWOL after receiving stop loss orders the day he is going to be discharged. After meeting up with other AWOL soldiers fleeing to Canada, he tries to buy fake papers from a man, and later tries to flee to Mexico. While I disagree with the policy, I cannot agree with the course of action the character. I think the most acceptable way to deal with it would be to go to jail and fight the policy from there. Going AWOL is not only cowardly, but it is a temporary solution: you are going to get caught eventually. If American legal channels were not an option, the second-best route would be to seek asylum legally in a foreign country. My views on the policy of stop loss are much like my views on the draft. Stop loss, as well as the draft, should only be implemented when there is a legal war, declared by congress. It should not be allowed to be implemented for a "conflict" so unpopular that it cannot get soldiers to sign up and fight for it.

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