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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (34226)	1/4/2004 8:06:07 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

If there is anyone who still believes that the draft won't be reinstated if Bush is reelected, I suggest you consider... Army Order Aims To Stretch Ranks. Desperate to stretch its limited ranks, the U.S. Army is expected this week to prohibit still more soldiers now in Iraq and soon to be deployed there from leaving military service. Army officials declined to say which or how many soldiers would be affected when it expands its "stop-loss" program, which already prevents soldiers in certain heavily used specialties from leaving the military or being reassigned to other units. But the last such edict, issued Nov. 13, covered all of the more than 110,000 active-duty soldiers whose units are scheduled to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan between now and May. The announcement of a further expansion of the program, which Army officials confirmed is imminent, comes amid evidence that the Army is straining to meet its growing commitments around the world. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Army has repeatedly blocked certain soldiers from retiring or leaving. Most of the previous stop-loss orders came in the period directly after the terrorist attacks, and then again as the Pentagon prepared for war in Iraq early last year. The orders have generally applied to troops whose skills have been in high demand in Iraq, such as military police or civil affairs specialists, and some of those orders have subsequently been lifted. But the Nov. 13 order was far broader. The Pentagon views these steps as a tool to halt the hemorrhage of personnel at a time when more than half its combat troops are fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. But the practice is deeply controversial within the military. Some soldiers have complained it amounts to a reinstitution of the draft. By preventing soldiers from leaving the Army at retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders have breached the Army's manpower limit of 480,000 troops, a ceiling set by Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said the number of active-duty soldiers had reached 500,000. Several lawmakers questioned the legality of exceeding the limit by so much. Senior Army officials have been complaining for more than six months that the Army needs to grow to handle its burgeoning commitments in an age of global terrorism. newsday.com lurqer