There's been increased attention lately on the U.S. military's stop-loss practice, the forced retention of troops near the ends of their contracts. (Some of that attention may have been inspired by the recently released film, "Stop-Loss.")

Rep. Chris Shays has put himself out there as a critic of the program. He wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (who has said he doesn't like the program but finds it a necessary ill to maintain the forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq) encouraging the cessation of the involuntary tour-of-duty extensions.

The Connecticut Republican was just on NBC Nightly News in a story about it. Shays pops in (at the 02:04 mark) for a quick two sentences:  "It is going to destroy the morale of our troops. We've got to stop it."

Original Article: http://blogs.courant.com/on_background/2008/05/shays-a-prominent-critic-of-mi.html