Army Plan Aims to Keep Soldiers on Duty

Bush and his neocon administration have been wrong on every count since starting this war on false pretenses. So now they are penalizing our troops with extended tours of combat duty for their own incompetence.

Army Plan Aims to Keep Soldiers on Duty


Thu Jun 3, 1:05 AM ET

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Thousands of soldiers who had expected to retire or otherwise leave the military will be required to stay if their units are ordered to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The announcement Wednesday, an expansion of a program called "stop-loss," affects units that are 90 days or less from deploying, said Lt. Gen. Frank L. "Buster" Hagenbeck, the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel.

Commanders can make exceptions for soldiers with special circumstances. Otherwise, soldiers won't be able to leave the service or transfer from their units until they return to their home bases after their deployments end.

The Army is struggling to find fresh units to continue the occupation of Iraq. Almost every combat unit has faced or will face duty there or in Afghanistan, and increased violence has forced the deployment of an additional 20,000 troops to the Iraq region, straining units even further...