“Stop Loss”

The Army says it’s “stop loss” policy is necessary to sustain a cohesive force and that they use it sparingly. Currently 7,500 active service soldiers are subject to stop loss and the policy has affected more than 100,000 soldiers.

To argue the current stop loss policy violates a contract isn’t going to accomplish a thing, because halting the stop loss policy is a not a judicial judgment. Nothing will change, if Senator McCain becomes the Commander-in- Chief in January, because he’s another neo-fascists, who finds nothing wrong with using young Americans as economic cannon fodder.

Steward McKenzie enlisted in the Army and the consequences of that decision has been devastating. Today, he questions the explanation his recruiter offered about the stop loss policy. McKenzie insists: “He basically made it sound like it’s World War III. He said there’s no chance. Don’t worry about it. Sign right here.”

McKenzie finish his four year contract, but was kept in Iraq, four additional months until a roadside bomb severed a hand and blew off part of his leg. The reality is that once you volunteer to become a “gangster for capitalism,” it’s like joining the mob. It’s very hard to get out.

McKenzie’s anger is nothing compared to the rage that Dalton Trumbo’s character Joe Bonham expresses in “Johnny Got His Gun.” Bonham’s rage jumps out at you from this most powerful anti-war novel, which was taboo for many years.

At 18 year of age, Steward McKenzie wouldn’t have been as gullible, if someone had insisted that he read “Johnny Got His Gun” or “War is a Racket” by Major General Smedley Butler, who is perhaps the most courageous and honest man our military has produced. Unfortunately, many adults fear being labeled un-American, however morality demands that we protect our youth from being brainwashed, into becoming gangsters for corporate war profiteers.