Dupuis Stop-Loss

I disagree with the use of the stop-loss order entirely. This is nothing more than a backdoor draft of people who have already served their time. There soldiers are easier to draft since they are already in the service, are easier to catch, and can be pressured by command and their squad to stay in. This nation is one of equal rights and freedom. If a soldier is expected to be drafted back in, all of us back home eating pizza and getting drunk should be drafted as well. These soldiers have already risked their lives for a pointless, illegal, war. It is time the rest of America pay for our mistakes. I bear no ill thoughts towards any soldier who does not wish to be stop-lossed. These men and women are fighting for freedoms which they cannot use. While I can choose not to enlist, these people are forced to reenlist. Most Americans haven't shed a drop of blood for the freedoms that they have. Each and every soldier has done more to deserve the rights we all enjoy. If a stop-lossed soldier cannot fight the system due to its corruption, they should go vigilante and head for the border. The reason why we have laws is to prevent people from taking the law into their own hands. When laws become unevenly applied, the populous must start taking the law into their own hands. When a soldier has tried the law in order to escape the breech of contract, and it fails him, he should use what ever means there is to escape the unfair law. Until the rest of the nation is stop-lossed, these poor souls will bear the brunt of this war while we blog about it.

Krotulski - Stop Loss

Today in the military, a soldier can be “stop lossed,” meaning he or she must return to duty even though their term is almost up. After watching the movie Stop Loss, I think it is clear that a soldier cannot do much to prevent against this program. In the movie King tries to go to higher powers but he quickly find that now he has left the Army basically no one will be on his side. Through the readings in the folders and online as well, I have come to believe that with stop loss the Army and military is never wrong. There have been many cases where people have tried to fight back but almost always lose in the end.

If a soldier does decide to run away after being stop lossed then I think that he or she needs to look at where they are going. As the movie has shown, going to higher powers does not work. From a government stand point I think the only thing they could do with people who wish to escape being stop lossed in jail them or put them into asylums. When it comes to it, running away from the Army after being stop lossed is completely illegal. The soldiers have contracts in which they have signed and there is really no going against that. The only real way to upholding the policy to jail or asylum soldiers who go against orders. I do not think the program is right but I think that there is not much that can be done. Someone high up in power needs to take a stand against stop lossing soldiers and show that it is not good.

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.

Loos, Death Before Dishonor

Soldiers who have been stop-lossed are in a very difficult position if they are looking to avoid more military service. Many soldiers have fought the stop-loss in court, which is the method most assume they would use. However, the courts have usually side against the soldier, in favor of the U.S. government. A law suit is a valid, but most likely ineffective way to fight stop-loss.

Soldiers have already attempted to seek refugee status in Canada, but Canada rejected the claim pointing out the difference between prosecution and persecution. Canada also fears a large influx of deserters because during the Vietnam War, many Americans deserted to Canada.

There is the option of going AWOL. Staying in America would be difficult, as we see in the film when Brandon meets a deserter and his family. Mexico and Canada would be the best place to go.

During the Vietnam War, many men were put in jail when they refused to serve. I suppose if a soldier’s lawsuit didn’t work out and he could not flee, and he would literally do anything not to go back to war, jail would not be such a bad option. Jail is a rough place to say the least, but if a person had a moral objection to war, going to jail is better. Unlike going AWOL, jail also makes a stronger statement that stop-loss is wrong.

I feel the only real option our government gives a person to object to stop-loss is through the courts, even though past lawsuits have not been favorable to the soldier. On the bright side, it could possibly delay your tour.

There are other last resorts. If a woman did not want to return to Iraq, she could get pregnant. If a man did not want to return, he could say he is homosexual.