Blog Post

Daily News Brief 02.29.12
Posted by Jacob Worrell on February 29 2012

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom and click here to get the News Brief delivered to your inbox every morning.

MUST READS

1) With dinner for a few, Obama honors all Iraq vets

On Wednesday evening, the President and the First Lady are hosting 200 Iraq vets and their guests at a White House dinner. At least four IAVA member veterans have been invited, including Membership Director Jason Hansman, local leader Angela Peacock and Operation Mend spokesperson Cpl Aaron Mankin. IAVA has released a press release about the dinner.

2) The Divide

OIF veteran and IAVA Special Projects Coordinator Jacob Worrell writes about the dichotomy between the public’s reaction to celebrity deaths and military casualties. The real problem, he writes, is a civilian-military divide that leaves most Americans with “no idea how to deal with the deaths of thousands of service members.”

3) Modern wars influence psychiatric thought

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left hundreds of thousands of new veterans with invisible injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, the fallout from these war wounds has reached American psychiatry, which is changing how it thinks about PTSD.

AFGHANISTAN

• The U.S. has secured agreements with countries in Central Asia, allowing the military to move supplies out of Afghanistan without depending on an open border with Pakistan.
• No less than three major investigations have been launched to discover the origins of a Koran burning incident.

IRAQ

• The government of Iraq estimates that 70,000 citizens were killed by violence between 2004 and 2011.
• The Iraqi populace is furious about a new budget provision that provides members of parliament with expensive armored cars.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Coming off the heels of the Dover Air Force Base scandal, many are outraged after learning that some of the remains of 9/11 victims were accidentally dumped in a landfill.
• Before becoming one of golf’s greatest players, Tiger Woods seriously considered a military career.

NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• Representative Gabrielle Giffords shadowed a Navy SEAL for a day; watch her and her new buddy on their morning commute.
• IAVA’s Senior Fellow Matt Gallagher has published a piece about his alma mater and an infamous basketball coach’s controversial legacy.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• IAVA’s Deputy Policy Director Tom Tarantino is testifying about the President’s 2013 budget proposal at 11:00 am.
• Lawmakers argued over whether the Pentagon could sustain further budget cuts during a hearing on Tuesday.

  Share:
 del.icio.us  digg  reddit  facebook  newsvine myspace twitter