Protesting stop-loss outside Fort Lewis

Last Saturday around sixty people got together on Freedom Bridge, a highway overpass near Fort Lewis to protest stop-loss. Stop-loss is a backdoor draft that has been in place since the end of the Vietnam War. The rally began with a short march from the nearby GI coffeehouse, Coffee Strong, to the bridge, where people followed a marching band that played songs such as “Get Up, Stand Up” and “You Are My Sunshine.” After arriving at the bridge, people lined both sides, signs waving. Two large signs held above the freeway read, “Stop stop-loss, support your troops.” It was a beautiful sunny day, and we got much support in the form of honks and peace signs. Only a few middle fingers were shown, and the day progressed peacefully. There were two Washington Sate Patrol cars present to make sure we didn’t affect traffic, and two Lakewood police cars were present for backup. The officers spent a long day of sitting in their cars and counting sheep, which leaves me wondering if that was the best use of our tax dollars.

There were about six counter-protesters waving American flags, sandwiched between the band and the sign that said, “End This Backdoor Draft.” I walked over to ask a few questions about how supporting stop-loss was supporting the troops. The counterprotesters responded that stop-loss didn’t exist and we were protesting something that doesn’t exist. I told them there were soldiers on the bridge who had experienced stop-loss firsthand, and the counterprotesters informed me that this was only a policy under Bush but now that Obama was president, that policy was gone. At this point they decided to stop talking with me and went back to their flag waving, protesting against something which they don’t believe exists.

At this point I think it important to give a little background on stop-loss. It started right after the Vietnam War and its draft ended. The policy states that, “In the event of war, one’s enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six months after the war ends, unless the enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.” After Obama was elected, he stated that the United States army would be stopping this policy. However in order to get out of being called back up by stop-loss, one must “complete an involuntary deployment of twelve to fifteen months and 90 days stabilization time (to ‘out-process’ from the military),” after which they can apply to end their contact.

Even under this new policy, the army holds the power to reinstate stop-loss at anytime. “Still,” Robert Gates (Secretary of Defense) said that changes “do carry some risk,” and that the Army retains the authority to use stop-loss under “extraordinary circumstances.” The timeline for ending this policy plans to have 50 percent of the soldiers out of the program by 2010 to 2011. Judging by this information, it doesn’t sound like stop-loss is over to me. Furthermore the beginning of its end has yet to be implemented.