Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Stop-loss is a term applied to the practice of sending veterans of the Iraq war, usually National Guard brigades, back for additional tours of duty. This is also frequently called the "back-door draft."

The legality of stop-loss has been questioned, since we are not technically at war or in a time of national emergency.

The legality of sending National Guard brigades to a combat zone is also in question, since they have not been trained for combat.

"Stop-loss" does an excellent job of portraying the agony of fighting in Iraq with your high-school buddies, of the torture of being a family member waiting for not only your son or daughter to come home but also worrying about their friends whom you have known all their lives, of the tremendous relief when they have finished their tour of duty, followed by that punch-to-the-gut feeling when they are told that they have to go back.

Repeat all this over and over and it is not hard to imagine the hell that the troops and their families must endure.

The movie also shows what happens when a sergeant with a bronze star and purple heart refuses to return to duty after completing his tour. He suddenly becomes a pariah that the glad-handing senator who had recently praised him for his service refuses to see.

This movie is disturbing. It raises the questions:

Should we be sending national guard troops to Iraq? (That's not what they signed up to do and they bring their shared experience back to their communities, for better or for worse.) National Guard are not career military, yet they are being treated that way without the benefit of career military's readjustment programs or PTSD treatment. This is a heavy burden to dump on a community of family and those opposed to the war.

Why is there no recourse to those in the military when they are treated unfairly? (Unfairly as in being ordered to go back for another tour when they have completed their obligation.)

Why is the country in such a state of disconnect regarding the war in Iraq? Where are all those pickup trucks with the huge American flags streaming out the back? Is it that John Kerry was right about staying in college to avoid being sent to Iraq?

The movie chronicles the absolute hell that it is to fight in Iraq without knowing the rules of engagement or being able to speak the language, not to mention the overpowering heat and constant danger.

Then to finish this tour from hell, go home, reunite with family and then be told that you have to go back and do it all over again.

Couple this with the administration sanctioned torture we have committed against detainees and it makes me wish for the day when Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld will surely be prosecuted for war crimes (the Guantanamo Trials.)

Stop-loss is recommended viewing for those (and their families) considering service in the military.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older