Interview on Democracy Now:

Stop-Loss: A Look at the US Military Policy that Creates a "Backdoor Draft" to Force Soldiers to Continue Service

With about 175,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the US military has been forced to rely on a controversial policy known as "stop-loss" to force soldiers to continue serving after their voluntary stints had ended. We speak with two US soldiers: one on active duty in Iraq on his second tour of duty after being stop-lossed, the other facing redeployment after being stop-lossed.

We also speak with Hollywood director Kimberly Peirce about her feature film, Stop-Loss. [includes rush transcript]

Spc. Casey Porter, Army specialist stationed in Iraq on his second tour after being stop-lossed. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Colby Buzzell, served as an Army infantryman in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He is the author of the book My War: Killing Time in Iraq. Last year the book won the "Blooker Prize" for best book that began as a blog on the internet.

Kimberly Peirce, director of the film Stop-Loss. Her first film was Boys Don't Cry, for which star Hilary Swank won an Oscar for Best Actress. Her brother served in Iraq.