Army to Keep Extending Troops' Service

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Oct 18, 12:06 PM EDT
Army to Keep Extending Troops' Service

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Army will continue to rely on an unpopular program that forces some soldiers to stay on beyond their retirement or re-enlistment dates, despite repeated pressure from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reduce and eventually eliminate the practice.

Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, deputy chief of staff for personnel, said Thursday that the number of soldiers kept on duty has actually increased in recent months as a result of President Bush's orders to increase troop levels in Iraq this year to help quell the violence.

The number of those being kept on beyond their commitment - through a program known as "stop loss" - is about 9,000 now, compared to about 7,000 before the troop buildup began in late January, he said.

"Until there is some reduction in the demand, we're going to have to rely, unfortunately ... on stop loss," Rochelle told reporters. "Until the demand comes down a bit, we can't do it without it."




Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARMY_RECRUITING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-10-18-12-06-26

[TwilightGardener]

1. The backdoor draft rolls on.

[dickbearton]

31. When they are ready to go home, they will frag the officers, like they did in Vietnam.

[PSPS]

36. Frankly, I'm surprised this hasn't started happening by now.

But then, if it did and the obedient media quashed it, then it didn't happen anyway.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

40. Of course it has hapened.

Many times over.

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. I cannot imagine how angry this must make people who want out. nt

[leftchick]

3. just wait till we bomb Iran

and our troops in Iraq become BIGGER targets! :(

[LiberalArkie]

16. They will welcome us with flowers and kisses. We won't need extra soldiers.

[saigon68]

28. More Rose Petal Parades

[Hydra]

4. Pukeworthy

15 month deployments, and when your time's up, you don't get to go home.

The bad deal of this century gets worse every day.

[partylessinOhio]

5. This is troop abuse by those who wear false flags and say they support

the troops!

[monktonman]

33. In other news..........

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid sign yet another blank check for George Bush.

[saigon68]

6. Another reason not to join up to commit War Crimes

[Purveyor]

7. "All volunteer army"....my ass! eom K&R

[JohnnyLib2]

8. The fall out from this will go on for decades.

How many of those affected, primarily traditional military families, will encourage their children to join? What caliber of young person will be attracted toward service? Obvious questions? Yes. This is one dreadful policy.

[mopinko]

10. maybe we will finally have that war where

nobody comes. we can hope.

[billyoc]

9. Typical Republican shortsightedness. For every stop-lossed soldier they trap,

there are 10 deserters.

[aquart]

11. Some would call it slavery.

At least after you were dragged, like my grandfather was, into the Tsar's army for 30 years, you got permission to live in Moscow.

[anachro1]

12. Am I getting this right?

Blackwater mercenaries get to kill, maim, rape and destroy everything in sight without ANY repercussions, and American soldiers get all the blame for their atrocities? They torture indiscriminately, and our young men and women suffer the consequences?


Who the fuck thought THAT would ever be a good idea??!!

SIMPLY AMAZING.

[AnneD]

13. Be prepared....

for whole sale defections on a level we have never seen before. The Brass better not give these guys a pass home-they may not report back to duty....

[acmavm]

14. You know who's fault this is? It's those damn disloyal Americans

that don't want to become cannon fodder so they don't sign up for the shooting gallery.

:sarcasm:

edit: And republicans because they have the idea that someone else should do the fighting for 'em.

[Squatch]

15. Support the Troops, Hooah!

[redqueen]

17. Why does the republic party hate the troops?

When they had a chance to pass a bill to allow them to spend more time with their families and recover a bit before being sent out again in bush's occupation, they voted against it.

Why?

[Blaze Diem]

18. With the US Military weakened abroad, Blackwater will step in to

pick up the slack. The new Nat'l Guard, the new gestapo.

[jody]

19. Why SCOTUS has not ruled this is involuntary servitude or slavery amazes me. n/t

[atreides1]

20. Which SCOTUS Would That Be

The same one that refused to hear the case of German citizen who was kidnapped by the CIA and turned over to torturers, until someone realized he really wasn't a terrorist?

That SCOTUS

The SCOTUS that believes in the "unitary executive" and would like nothing better then to give Bush the power of a dictator as long as they get to keep their cushy jobs making decisions that affect other people's lives?

That SCOTUS

Or perhaps you're referring to a SCOTUS that may come into existence at some point in the future?

[jody]

21. There is only one SCOTUS. n/t

[olddad56]

22. It's the Hotel California, you can check in, but you can't check out. ..

unless you are killed.

[TechBear_Seattle]

29. You are thinking of a roach motel

Hotel California does let you check any time you like. It's just that you can never leave.

[Megahurtz]

23. I Guess They Will Be

replacing the Blackwater Terrorists. :(

There's got to be a way to stop this War! :banghead:

[Ken Burch]

24. Col . Cathcart strikes again.

The best comment I can otherwise think of about this outrage is these lyrics from Tom Waits, which become even more bitter and poignant in this context:

I got your letter today
And I miss you all so much, here
I can't wait to see you all
And I'm counting the days, dear
I still believe that there's gold
At the end of the world
And I'll come home
To Illinois
On the day after tomorrow

It is so hard
And it's cold here
And I'm tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
Up by the Wisconsin border
But I miss you won't believe
Shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch tomorrow
On the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes
Every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies
Everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
Look out on the street
Get me back home
On the day after tomorrow

You can't deny
The other side
Don't want to die
Any more than we do
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't they pray
To the same God that we do?
Tell me, how does God choose?
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel?
And who throws the dice
On the day after tomorrow?

Mmmmmmm...
I'm not fighting
For justice
I am not fighting
For freedom
I am fighting
For my life
And another day
In the world here
I just do what I've been told
You're just the gravel on the road
And the one's that are lucky
One's come home
On the day after tomorrow

And the summer
It too will fade
And with it comes the winter's frost, dear
And I know we too are made
Of all the things that we have lost here
I'll be twenty-one today
I've been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
On the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow

[juno jones]

34. Which album?

I grew up in Freeport (long,long ago), just outside Rockford, and damn, if that didn't make me cry.

[Ken Burch]

41. Not sure which album, but it came out in '03. Tom wrote it on the eve of the war, IIRC.

n/t.

[johnp]

25. Apparently killing people pays well for some

I was reading an article about how they are giving 100k bonuses to Special Operations guys and some Marines because when their tour is over they join Blackwater and get paid 150k a year so they are trying to meet that salary to keep them from leaving and supposedly its working. The business of killing is a lucrative business and the Pentagon pays the best on this planet. There is no greater Satan than W.

[lovuian]

26. I think we have slavery in America

this really is very sad

[Trouser Trout]

27. Well Done Dubya , You've Broken The military n/t

[tanyev]

32. Mission Accomplished.

:grr:

[tekisui]

30. My brother-in-law, serving in the 82nd in Afghanistan

was scheduled to be released from the Army at the end of this year, the end of his service agreement. But, he has had his enlistment extended 15 months. It's written into the enlistment papers that you can be recalled for up to 7 years after completion of your time.

The thing is, he will lose his benefits if he disagreed. He was supposed to be returning home this November, but instead will be home for a 2 week visit and go right back to Afghanistan.

My in-laws had to mail him a new pair of boots, because his were falling apart, and the Army wouldn't supply anymore. He went two months without a shower, because they didn't have any water. It's a mess.

[frylock]

38. great. my younger brother is off to stan in a couple months..

he's a kool-aid drinker.

[allisonthegreat]

35. And the ugliness and stupidity reign supreme! n/t

[defendandprotect]

37. Also, about two days ago there was a report that they were calling up more National Guard troops ---

from 7 different areas, as I recall -- !!!!

[tom_paine]

39. Imperial Slave Armies. It was different back when I served the Old American Republic

(sounds like Obi-Wan Kenobi, but no, I was just a lowly sergeant)

Now, serving in Bush's Amermacht, not fighting for the American people but for a handful of aristocratic and Imperial Families.

Well, let's just say I am glad I don't have THAT on my resume.

[tabasco]

42. Republicans say: "They volunteered! Fuck 'em!"

"As long as I don't have to carry my ass into the bloody quagmire, I'm all for it!"

[sutz12]

43. 1984, meet Catch-22

Two of the greatest novels of the 20th Century, being re-enacted before our eyes...in real life.

:shrug: