You know, If I hear that "They volunteered" crap again...

[Liberal Veteran]

..I am gonna scream.

Not too put too fine a point on it, but when your supposedly "volunteer" contract is extended out to 2031 because of a "stop loss" policy....it's not "voluntary" anymore. It's called indentured servitude.

And maybe some volunteered to go to Iraq, but the majority of people who joined, didn't volunteer to make Halliburton's profit margin go up. They are honorable people, like myself, who joined up for reasons of their own, from escaping poverty, to trying to build a future outside of what they had in their hometown, or just did it because it was thing to do.

And yes, there is a risk to "volunteering", but that risk is supposed to be balanced by having people make competent decisions in how they use the military you have joined.

This bullshit about "volunteering" needs to be countered by saying loudly, "How many of our men and women went running to the recruiter when they heard we were gonna invade Iraq". They volunteered to join the military....don't make it sound like they were beating the door down to get over to Mess-o-potamia.

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Let's face it folks,

we do have a de facto draft.

And you are so right, when men and women volunteer, the part of the contract this country is supposed to uphold is we will never send you off for anything other than a threat to our country and for an honorable purpose. This administration has broken that contract.

[Autonomy]

2. The whole volunteering issue is a red herring

since the issue is Bush -- his lying, incompetence, and denial about the state of affairs over there. The only thing the troops have to do with all that is that they're getting killed because of Bush's lying, incompetence, and denial about the state of affairs over there.

[KerryOn]

3. I'm sick of it too....

Good point about stop loss, and some of those young men and women joined up right after 9/11 and ended up in Iraq. Fighting a war based on lies and half truths, is not what hey signed up for. They were used by Bush and this administration, and Bush and his administration must be held accountable.

[kentuck]

4. They volunteered to defend our country from all enemies.....

foreign and domestic... They swore to defend out country...They did not swear to defend our nation on a pack of lies.

[SeattleGirl]

5. My thought exactly!

They vow to protect and defend the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Don't recall that the oath has anything in it about defending and dying for a pack of lies spewed by someone who never saw a day of combat in his life!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Welcome home soldier

and you are correct.. now it is time we tell these idiots to either put up (go to the recruiter and volunteer for SERVICE in the LINE INFANTRY in Iraq) or shut up

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Bill Maher had a great response to this tonight

He said they volunteered for one weekend a month and two weeks every summer.