RE: (no subject)

Yes.  It's in the mainstream press.  A Google search for "Rumsfeld legal
action army reservist" yields 235 hits. 

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam Miller
Sent: August 20, 2004 10:59 AM
To: list for the ballistic helmet heads; Amy Watker; April Pettengill
Subject: [ballistichelmet] (no subject)



[Has anyone else heard about this? - A(m)]

http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/_first.asp?FileName=20040820091020

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is the target of legal action by an
army reservist who is suing him and top military officials over a
retention policy that allows the Pentagon to keep troops on active duty
in Iraq even after their contracts expire. 

SyriaTimes ‏ 

First ‏ 

19-8-2004 ‏ 

summary: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is the target of legal
action by an army reservist who is suing him and top military officials
over a retention policy that allows the Pentagon to keep troops on
active duty in Iraq even after their contracts expire. ‏ 

As many as 40,000 soldiers have been forced to extend their stay in the
US Army through the so-called "stop-loss" emergency program since the
beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to legal experts. ‏ 

The plaintiff, who filed suit against Rumsfeld, Acting Army Secretary
Les Brownlee and others with the Ninth US District Court on Tuesday,
alleges a breach of contract and questions the constitutionality of the
whole setup. ‏ 

He has been identified by his attorney simply as John Doe to protect his
privacy. ‏ 

Court documents describe him as a decorated veteran who has already
completed nine years of active service with the Army and the US Marine
Corps, including deployments in Somalia and unidentified war zones in
the Middle East. ‏ 

Last year, the father of two small daughters aged three and six served a
tour of combat duty in Iraq, which he completed in December. ‏ 

Upon returning home to the San Francisco Bay Area, Doe joined the
California Army National Guard on a one-year contract that expires on
December 21. ‏ 

However, his commanders told him in July that, because of the
"stop-loss" policy, his one-year enlistment had been extended for an
additional two years, and that his National Guard unit had been
mobilized for service in Iraq, according to the lawsuit. ‏ 

He is due to leave soon for six months of training at Fort Bliss, Texas,
followed by deployment to Iraq immediately after the training program is
completed. ‏ 

The lawsuit asserts the emergency policy instituted in the wake of the
September 11 attacks was "invalid" because the Iraqi regime of Saddam
Hussein has been removed from power and "Iraq cannot be considered to
pose a threat of terrorist attack upon the United States." ‏ 

While acknowledging that Doe`s contract allows the military to retain
him in the event of war, the filing notes that "Congress has not
declared a war in Iraq or elsewhere," which makes involuntary retentions
illegal. ‏ 

"American citizens cannot constitutionally be required to serve
involuntarily and indefinitely at whim," the lawsuit argues. ‏ 

The controversial Pentagon policy has already turned into a political
hot potato this election year, as Democratic presidential nominee John
Kerry decried it in his acceptance speech in Boston, Massachusetts, last
month as "the backdoor draft". ‏ 

The comment drew a testy repartee from Rumsfeld, who insisted in a radio
interview that "anyone in the reserve is there voluntarily". ‏ 

Meanwhile, attorney Michael Sorgen, who represents Doe, said the case
will be certainly closely watched by thousands of military personnel and
their families, particularly by the 123,000 American troops currently
serving in Iraq. ‏ 

"When their period of enlistment ends, they should be entitled to return
to their families," Sorgen said. ‏ 

Marguerite Hiken of the Military Law Task Force, a group that closely
monitors enlistment policies, said the US military should not be allowed
to create "a new category of indentured servitude."‏

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