STOP LOSS and 9/11

The Meaning of Stop Loss and the Events of 9/11

My son and I went to see the movie "Stop Loss" last evening and this is the first anti war movie that I have seen since the tragic events of 9/11.

This movie deals with a young soldier who is returning home to Texas after his tour of duty is complete. All he wants to do is spend the rest of his days on his farm in Texas, and in one line of the movie "smell the onion truck going up the road". He is scheduled to be discharged from the Army. A Senator from Texas is there to great him and his fellow soldiers upon his arrival in his home town. The sleaze ball Senator informs him that if he ever needs anything to stop by and he would be more than willing to help.

Thus goes our hero, ready to discharge when he is handed his orders informing him that he is a subject of the Stop Loss program. This program is in effect until six months after the war is over. In other words the Military can retain their soldiers well past the time that they are suppose to be discharged. It is called "Back door drafting", essentially holding these young men and women who have honorably volunteered to serve our nation as hostages and throwing them back to a war zone. The movie goes on to show the turmoil this young man is put through, how he temporarily goes AWOL, seeks out an activist to flee the country that he loves and ultimately makes decisions that he knows in his heart is wrong and could cost him his life.

This caused my son and me to discuss what this war was all about. In the aftermath of 9/11, I just like almost every other American I spoke with wanted vengeance for the attacks on innocent lives. I wanted to see black and white, no gray middle ground; I wanted to know which countries were with the United States and which ones weren't. And those that were not I wanted them on my hit list. I am not ashamed of how I felt then, and how I feel now. I wanted to get even.