Must-see movie: Stop Loss

Stop Loss, a movie about the U.S. military's involuntary retention of soldiers for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been getting lots of play in the media, and it's at the top of my list of movies to see.

The policy of Stop Loss is the War in Iraq's worst-kept, dirty little secret. And it basically gives the military to power to keep soldiers on active duty as long as it likes, even after their commitments are up. There has been no radical middle- or upper-class revolt regarding the war, because by and large, America's sons and daughters who are fighting this ear do not come from those socio-economic classes.

The Bush administration has been able to keep a lid on discontent about the Iraq War by acquiring and maintaining the manpower it needs through stop loss, and also by having a massive private army at its disposal, which, by the way, is larger than the troops we have deployed in the field. And this large private army, led by a private corporation named Blackwater, does not answer to the military. Every single American should find this deeply troubling.

The next time McSame is in Philadelphia for a campaign appearance, I'd like to go to it and ask this question: "Senator, you've publicly stated that we could have to remain in Iraq for years, if not decades. Exactly where do you plan on getting the manpower to maintain this presence? A larger private army, or do you plan to stop loss the army for the next 10 years?" I'd love to see him hem and haw with that answer for what would undoubtedly be the some of the most uncomfortable 30 seconds of his campaign. (My follow-up question would be this: "Since you want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, just how do you plan on paying for our long-term occupation of Iraq?")

The bottom line is that our military isn't going to be able to sustain the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan much longer without much needed changes, including the possibility of a draft.

One thing's for sure - as the song in the movie says, something really does have to give.

Stop Loss is in theaters now.

37 years ago - tragic evidence of what a corrupt government can do to dissenters

I missed the exact anniversary by a day, but 37 years ago yesterday, four students were killed and scores more wounded when National Guard soldiers opened fire on students at Kent State University who were protesting the U.S. military's invasion of Cambodia.

I'll confess, this particular anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies by our government against protesters may have gone unnoticed were it not for a few things, most notably new audio of the actual event released last week.

The audio tape revealed the strong probability that National Guard soldiers may have actually been ordered to fire. On Tuesday, AP reported a former Kent State student, Terry Strubbe, who lived in a dormitory overlooking the anti-war rally site, placed a microphone on a windowsill and recorded nearly 30 minutes of the event on reel-to-reel tape. He sent a copy of the tape to the FBI and kept a copy in a safe deposit box. The government copy has been archived at Yale University.

According to Alan Canfora, who was shot in the wrist that day, a voice can be heard on the tape yelling, "Right here! Get Set! Point! Fire!" before there is the 13-second volley of gunfire.

In the aftermath of the shootings (above, students run following the gunshots), President Nixon, who was often incensed at anti-war protesters, asked his White House Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman, to consider the Huston Plan, which would have increased the governments efforts to infiltrate "left-wing protest groups." Ironically, the plan was only stopped when, of all people, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover intervened.

This type of behavior isn't out of the question in present-day American, either. In 2005, The New York Times revealed the New York Police Department has been infiltrating protest groups since the September 11 terrorist attacks to monitor them.

Of course, the NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg counter that since September 11, "we live in a different world." I guess that different world now involves government infiltrating groups and organizations that don't tow the government line.

Not surprising, but until Bush leaves office, this is the government we are stuck with - doing virtually anything it wants, all in the name of The War on Terror. I'm not suggesting there could be another Kent State - I certainly hope not. But, it's not out of the question. The one thing that could potentially ignite such governmental activity against civilians would be stepped-up war protests on a very wide scale. Considering the Bush administration's obstinacy on war funding, that's not out of the question, either.

Of course, if the federal government were to reinstitute the draft, then all bets are off. I'll write more about a potential draft tomorrow, but for now, I'll end with this thought:

Even if this war continues just through the end of Bush's term (unlikely), I really don't see how our military can keep this up without a draft.