This week's most insightful college editorials on a hot topic: Bush's stop-loss order

University of Michigan

Our nation has relied upon a volunteer military since the end of the Vietnam War, and the men and women who are willing to accept the dangers inherent to the military deserve praise for their commendable service in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, a volunteer army of highly motivated, highly trained soldiers is almost certainly more efficient and better suited to defend our country than an army of disheartened conscripts. Yet the Bush administration, seeking desperately to maintain a force sufficient to meet our foreign policy commitments without instituting a draft, has thanked our soldiers for their dedication to our nation's security by invoking dishonest policies that result in soldiers performing involuntary tours of duty overseas.

It is not surprising that the Pentagon has called up Army Reserve and National Guard units for overseas duty. Certainly, many of the men and women in these institutions enlisted expecting to serve one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer and have had to set aside career and family. National Guard troops in particular, who may have envisioned themselves performing flood relief at home, may be shocked to find themselves assigned to Iraq. There is, however, precedent for these deployments: Reserve and National Guard units were deployed in the first Gulf War.

The Bush Administration, however, has instituted particularly underhanded policies to maintain troop strength. The Pentagon has issued what is known as a "stop-loss" order under which soldiers whose units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan must serve the entire 12 months overseas, plus an additional 90 days, regardless of when their term of enlistment ends. In some cases, soldiers have been notified of their new deployments as little as two days before they were to have left the military. This is conscription without a draft; soldiers are performing active duty they never volunteered to serve.

- "Forced Service," from the University of Michigan's Michigan Daily

University of Iowa

The stop-loss order makes up for a lack of planning, foresight, and judgment by both the Pentagon and the White House in asking those already sacrificing in the line of volunteer duty to carry more of the load. Their disregard for the men and women in uniform will only compound those errors and problems -- a volunteer army pushed too far will simply walk away.

The Iraq invasion called for a small, streamlined fighting force and high-tech weapons. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld refused to listen to advice from military experts, such as retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, who said a much larger force would be needed to ensure security in Iraq. While this is water under the bridge, the inability of Rumsfeld and other top leaders to understand and adapt to this mistake is costing soldiers their lives. By keeping this burden on a small force, insurgents are emboldened to wage attacks on our troops. Under these conditions, it is little surprise that morale and re-enlistments are both down.

The stop-loss order is just another mistake. While it may temporarily keep troop levels stable in Iraq, it tells soldiers and Marines that in the long run, honorably serving out their enlistment will be rewarded with additional combat service and prolonged separation from their families. Those not facing mobilization who may have been considering re-enlistment after their commitment is filled will instead flock to the exits before they also find them locked.

Besides being a bad move tactically, the stop-loss order is a callous disregard for the human toll that multiple and extended tours of duty exact on our soldiers. Many of the troops in Iraq are Reserve and National Guard soldiers. They haven't been trained for long-term occupation tours. Yet these Reservists and tens of thousands of Marines are being run ragged in extended occupational duty. One result of this open-ended situation is an increase in soldier suicides. The Army reported 24 suicides in Iraq and Kuwait last year. The number of actual suicides is likely higher because the military under-reports suicide deaths - often to preserve benefits for families of soldiers killed in action.

- "Beleaguering the beleaguered" from the University of Iowa's Daily Iowan