Stop-Loss Policy
War has been around since the beginning of time. People have been asked to defend for their country and to die for their cause. But is the war that America is currently involved in, one of the times where people should be forced to die and stay overseas. The men and women who volunteered to fight for the country they love, are not being forced to stay longer then the original time they were supposed to stay, all thanks to President Bush’s “stop-loss policy” otherwise known as the “back-door draft.”
The “stop-loss program” was introduced in order to counter act the number of men and women’s lives lost in the war and the number of people who have not been signing up to join. There are few arguments that are pro the “back-door draft” yet there are many more arguments that are against the policy. This paper will explain why the reasons why the policy is something that will just destroy America, such as people being forced to say in war, their families being affected, the volunteer military becoming a non volunteer, and even what it has done to some of the soldiers.
President Bush put the “stop-loss policy” into effect giving the military the power to keep military personnel for up to twenty-four months longer, in a combat zone or in a high-risk area. If a soldier’s military group is being shipped over to fight the War in Iraq, then the soldier would have to go with them as well. It does not matter if the soldier only has a month left, it would not matter and he would still have to go with him.
According to what is written in the policy, “The policy is designed to assist in meeting manpower requirements for future operations, and will, therefore, evolve to remain relevant to future operations, and will, therefore, evolve to remain relevant to future developments in mission requirements and our involvement in current operations.” (Maradmin)
Since the beginning of American there has been a draft for people to join the military. During the Vietnam War (1973) the draft finally became something of the past that is until now. The draft has just changed a little to fit with the changing of times. Instead of civilians being forced to go and fight for their country, the soldier’s who have already given up so much for their country are being forced to stay. How can America claim to have a fully volunteer military when ...
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...e vent of war, my enlistment in the armed forces continues six months after the was ends unless it is discontinued by the president.” (Wagner)
Even though the soldiers are told these things, is it still ok for the government to be asking this of them? Yes they have previous knowledge, but something like this should not happen. The government needs to realize that they need to not start these things, if they are not going to have enough military to support all of it.
In conclusion, the men in women who are protecting the lives of all the citizens in the united states, are being forced to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan, well beyond their discharged dates, for the government who was not very well planned out. The soldiers however have been fighting back, and not just listening to what the government tells them. Although some people think that since soldiers sign up, and have previous knowledge of the issue, that it would be fine, but that is far from the truth. Each member of the military is a person, and deserves the same rights as everyone else. The government has taken the all-volunteer army, and has turned it into a different kind of draft army, a “back-door draft”.
...ble of pushing through these problems to win the freedom for our country. Don’t be like the summer soldier or sunshine patriot who are only there when the times are easy but not when the times are rough. This is a great time for us to show the states that we are strong men who don’t back down even when the situations are brutal. I know that all of you want to go home and see your family but do they need you as much as all of the states and George Washington need you? Now is not the time to back out and quit the army; we are halfway there so why quit when you are halfway towards freedom. Every time the situations get worse, a few will quit, and at the end of the day we will truly see who are the strongest and most loyal troops.
Tim O’Brien finds himself staring at his draft notice on June 17, 1968. He was confused and flustered. O’Brien does not know how or why he got selected for the draft. All he knew was that he was above the war itself, “A million things all at once—I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen” (41). He was also demented on the fact that he, a war hater, was being drafted. He felt if anyone were to be drafted it should be the people who supported the war. “If you support a war, if you think it’s worth the price, that’s fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line” (42). His draft notice was when he first carried his thought of embarrassment. He instantly thought if he does not support the war he should not have to go to war. The only way not to go to war was to flee the country so the draft council could not find him. He had a moral split. “I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile” (44). This quote is so true in young adults, not only then, but also now. Peer pressure, the thought of being embarrassed if we do not do something, pushes many young adults to do things they do not want to such as pushing Tim O’Brien to enter the draft. The thought of being judged ...
But in 1980, President Carter reinstated the draft in a way, stating all men born after January 1, 1960 were require to register with Selection Service, but this was not reinforced after about he of 1986. Today, the question is debated about whether or not we, as Americans, should reinstate the draft. Those in favor of reinstating the draft argue that our country would be safer, those drafted would learn important lifelong lessons and build characteristics that today’s generation has lost, and Americans would learn to appreciate more, something our society has forgotten. Those who oppose the draft argue that there would not be many, if any, families that are not military based and have to worry about loosing people in their family. Reinstating the military draft is
Denise Grady’s (2006) article sound a strong wake up call for the American government and for the American public to re-evaluate their guiding principles towards war in Iraq and the continued presence of the American soldiers in the Iraqi soil. Grady delineated the enormous damages the war had costs in not only monetary terms but also the future of thousands of promising young and talented men and women sent in the Iraq War; that had no clear benefits to them or the American people.
On August 7th 1964 the United States Congress passed into law the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which, for all intents and purposes, officially brought the United States into the Vietnam War. Following this resolution, a draft was instated to increase the number of men that could be sent to war. Shortly after men started to be signed into conscription for the United States Military, a public outcry started over the use of a draft to increase military size. The draft was found to be unfair to American Citizens because certain groups of men were severely disadvantaged, the draft was illegal in many ways, and veteran’s future lives were harmed, among other reasons.
Many people in the 1960s and early 1970s did not understand why the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. Therefore, they had no desire to be a part of it. The Selective Service System, which was used to conduct the draft, had aspirations of directing people into areas where they were most needed during wartime. However, people took advantage of the draft system’s deferment policies to avoid going to war. Others refused induction or simply did not register. There were also people who left the country to escape the draft. The Vietnam War proved to be an event that many Americans did not agree with, and as a result, citizens took action to elude the draft entirely or to beat the draft system.
Over forty years has passed since the United States inducted the last draftee through the Selective Service System. The Selective Service System is an independent agency of the United States, which gives the President the right or power to conscript men for military service. There have been different Acts passed by congress since 1917 that require men of various ages to register for service. Although, the name of each Act and the age requirements of the registries changed, the Acts were all similar in nature. They all gave the President the right to call men to war when he deemed necessary. In January 1973, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced the creation of the all-volunteer service, retracting the need for the draft (GAO.gov). Under current law, all men between the ages of 18-25 must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, however this information is used mostly for recruitment purposes and in case of any future crisis. There has been much controversy over this matter since the Vietnam War, when people started to realize the draft was unfair due to loopholes and draft exemptions making the draft unfair for working men. At one point in time the military draft may have been necessary, but today’s all-volunteer military has eliminated the need for a draft.
From this, supporters of women joining the draft argue that their involvement in the draft should also reflect on their increasing involvement in the army. However, those who oppose women being apart of the draft argue that equality between men and women is an unrealistic mindset. This is proven in the New York Times with Catherine Rampell’s when she writes “Women earn 92.2 cents on the dollar of what men earn” (1). This is a statistic from 2011 that shows people that complete equality between men and women has still not fully been reached. Furthermore, those opposed to women and the draft argue that if America has not completely reached full equality within the genders, then neither should the army.
The Military draft is the random selection of qualified citizens of the United States, that is put to use when a crisis occurs, like a war. When American citizens reached age 18, they had to sign up for eligibility to be drafted to go to war for their country. Throughout the country’s history, the requirements and limitations of drafting have changed. The draft has been going on since colonial times in America in order to fulfill the country’s military needs when there were not enough volunteer fighters for the military. The total amount of soldiers that one side has fighting for it is an important factor in any type of battle so getting the necessary amount of fighters is crucial. The draft assures everyone that this military need is satisfied at any point in time. Many people feel like the draft is not fair and not “American” and the draft has seen so much conflict since its invention. Throughout the history of the United States, the military draft has been a very important, yet highly controversial topic at the same time.
When we reached our forum post for Lesson 4, which was the lesson about the 1920’s, Paul Whiteman, and jungle music, I ended up researching Fletcher Henderson and found many interesting things about him, such as that he had sold many of his songs to Benny Goodman later in his career. Knowing this, I can look at that information in conjunction with what we learned in Lesson 4 about Henderson’s tendency to be influenced by Whiteman. Whiteman was more interested in orchestral dance music and during this time there was orches...
If there was a draft, there would be a lot more men and women out there fighting to keep our country safe so that we can continue to lay down at night and not be afraid of what might happen to us when we do. Our military is strong, but if there was a specific number of men joining every year or so, our numbers would be higher, therefore increasing our strength. Being in the military is something to be proud of, and those that join on their own are good people, but anyone that goes out and fights, draft or not, is still a good person and should have our respect. Most people see commercials on television about the armed forces and think that it might be a good thing to go do, I know I have, but some might not put any more work into it after they see it the first time. Having a draft would get rid of that part of them that doesn’t want to get up off the couch and
...e unnecessary moneymakers, products of lies and deception behind the scenes, orchestrated by powerful and rich men who usually never suffer but, rather, gain from their machinations to create war. I support a National Service Obligation system that would draft all persons, at age 18, to serve for 18 months in some form of public service. This would allow American citizens to contribute to the country in different ways. But it should be one?s own decision how to contribute to the country. As said before, I believe that reinstating the military draft will not increase patriotism or a sense of duty, but will rather decrease the effectiveness of the military and will create huge protest feeling among country?s citizens. Therefore we should explore every possible way to contribute the country?s future instead of just putting our future and ourselves in the Meat Grinder.
For the first part of this paper you need some background on how the draft worked throughout our history (as Americans), and how it was socially perceived amongst the citizen of this great nation. For more than fifty years now we have had a peacetime military draft. "President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 which created the country's first peacetime draft and formally established the Selective Service System" (about.com). We have been very lucky that the military draft has only been used twice now, once for W...
In this case, there are three main effects of Napster on the recording industry. The first one is that it caused a large decline in record sales in a short time. According to this case, the spending on recorded music in U.S dropped 4.1% in 2001 and the industry’s top 10 albums also sold much less compared to the year before. The second effect is that it cased the sales of CD burners, blank CDs and digital audio players increase and nowadays, most new computers come with CD-RW drives installed, which means people can easily store downloaded music, share music with friends and take it with them anytime as well. The third effect is that it increased the cost of recorded music. Once people can download free music through peer-to-peer software services, they have less incentive to buy original editions, which will make recording industry spend more to fight against copyrights and invest more in new artists and new music. Overall, these three effects make the recording industry go through a hard time.
The penalty for dodging this new draft is simple: no diploma. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, angry parents and students took the local school board to court, arguing that such a mandatory service program for high school students imposed the kind ...