Army Imprisons Iraq Vet for Hip Hop Song

[Varmit]

Still wanna wave the ol' Red White and Blue??
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Specialist Marc Hall, aka hip hop artist Marc Watercus, was looking forward to the end of his U.S. Army service in February and never going back to Iraq, when commanders decided to "stop-loss" him—the policy that allows military officials to keep soldiers longer than their service contracts state. Frustrated by the Army's decision, Hall recorded—and mailed to his superiors—a song protesting the stop-loss policy, which has forced thousands of troops to serve extra time in Iraq and Afghanistan.


The Army threw Hall in jail on December 11, 2009, in Liberty County Jail, Georgia. He is charged under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which covers "all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline" and "all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces."

Army officials considered the song a warning sign and threat. In the song Hall raps:

Like Obama says somebody be held responsible
But some of you all gonna be held in the hospitals, whenever possible...

I'm gonna round up all eventually, easily, walk right up peacefully
And surprise them all
Yes, yes y'all, up against the wall, turn around
I got a motherf****n' magazine with 30 rounds, on a three round burst
Ready to fire down ... spray and watch the bodies all hit the floor
I bet you don't stop-loss nobody no more, in your next lifetime of course...

Hall's civilian lawyer claims that the lyrics to the song should not be taken literally. Hall's court-martial trial is expected to take place sometime in the coming months.

--------------------infowars.com-------------------------

[Anmar]

Interesting comparison. 

You wanted Nidal Hassan arrested for speaking against the war, but when this guy gets arrested for telling people he's going to spray his superiors officers with machine gun fire, you get angry.

[Varmit]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Hassan actually shoot people??  Theres a pretty big difference between talking about something and doing it.

[Anmar]

He did, all i'm saying is, if a guy runs around saying he's going to kill american soldiers in the same manner that Hassan did, shouldn't he be looked at?

[Varmit]

I see what you are saying but I think that the situation here is different.  The guy that wrote the song was venting frustration at being "stoped lossed" and I don't blame him. 

[Anmar]

I uinderstand anger over the stop loss, i think its a terrible policy and I've been against it since the Bush administration started it.  But it doesnt mean he gets a free pass.  I'm all about solving the root of the problem, if people don't want to fight wars, then lets not go to war unless we really need to.

[Varmit]

I guess that depends on what you mean by "free pass"?  Personally, I don't think he did anything wrong.