The US military has been facing a severe morale problem in Iraq for awhile. Fewer troops are re-enlisting once they see first hand the effects of the illegal war. To keep troop levels at current levels the miltary has adopted several underhanded tactics to make the “volunteer army” not so volunteer.
Around 10,000 troops have been forced to serve up to 18 months beyond their periods of enlistment as part of the military's stop loss order. In addition, the army has called back to service thousands of formerly enlisted soldiers as part of the Individual Ready Reserve. There are also reports that the US has strong-armed currently serving US soldiers into re-enlisting by threatening to send them into combat zones if they refused.

Many of the soldiers who have now been forced to fight as part of the unofficial draft are resisting. “Thirty percent of former U.S. soldiers who have been called back to duty involuntarily to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to report on time” and several have gone AWOL “and could face military criminal charges as deserters”. In addition, some additional active service members are refusing to serve with new reports of jailed soliders every week.
In August, a suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco contended that the miltary's stop loss program violated federal law. A member of the Military Law Task Force stated of the case, "We are asking the federal court to uphold their lawful rights and not allow the Army to create a new category of indentured servitude." read more

There are currently over 100,000 US soldiers in Iraq and nearly an equal number in other regional countries providing support. Of this number, 55,000 are members of the National Guard, who were told during recruitment that they would probably only be serving one weekend a month.