Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 08.26.09
Posted by Michael Houston on August 26

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.

MUST READS

1) Living-Will Guide for Vets Stirs Health Overhaul Fears

The Department of Veterans Affairs booklet titled “Your Life, Your Choices,” continues to stir up controversy over the federal government’s role in end of life care, and what the booklet was specifically designed for. During MSNBC’s “Face Off” segment Tuesday, those attacking the booklet are “pushing the false claim that government-run healthcare, as evidence by the Veterans Administration, will mean death books that push seniors to choose euthanasia.” Instead, MSNBCstated the booklet is about “living wills and end-of-life care.” Meanwhile, a Washington Times editorial refutes that claim, saying it illustrates a, “bureaucratic disregard for the value of all life.” According to VA Chaplain Juliana Lesher, the booklet is “just one of many options that could be given to a veteran. This is clearly just an educational work book. It was never intended to be the decision making tool for veterans.”

2) Proposal to Ease Aid for G.I.’s With Stress Disorder

Through a proposed change published in the August 24 Federal Register, the VA is moving to lower the burden on noncombat veterans who claim they developed PTSD during their service, and would also speed up the processing of those claims. So long as veterans with PTSD can show that they were in places and preformed duties where there was risk of PTSD, veterans will no longer have to provide documentation of specific triggering events. The proposal would especially help those in combat support roles, such as nurses, doctors, and truck drivers. Under the current rules, veterans are required to provide written verification through statements from a commander or doctor, or testimony from co-workers. U.S. Representative John Hall (NY-19) applauded the proposal, which is a step forward toward full adoption of his Combat PTSD Act (H.R. 952), endorsed by IAVA.

3) Army Tests Confidential Alcohol-Prevention Program

This week, the Army launched the Confidential Alcohol Treatment and Education pilot program at Madigan Army Medical Center and two other Army installations. The program’s key provision: “When a soldier seeks help for alcohol abuse, his or her superior officers won’t be notified.” Under current guidelines, if a soldier seeks treatment for alcohol abuse, his chain of command must be kept informed. This can be a deal breaker for those hoping to re-enlist or receive promotions. The pilot program will last six months, at which point the Army will reassess whether it should continue.

4) Family of Dead Pvt. Express Outrage

Four days in to his deployment in Iraq, 19-year-old Pvt. Keiffer Wilhelm committed suicide. Now, his family is struggling to understand news that their son’s fellow soldiers have been charged with abusing him and others in his platoon with cruelty, maltreatment and excessive physical fitness. Although the military says there is no direct evidence that the soldier’ alleged misconduct caused Wilhelm’s death, the investigation continues. Wilhelm died August 4^th of a gunshot wound to the head. According to his mother, “there is no way he could do what he did without being pushed to the limit.” Four soldiers face the charges of cruelty and maltreatment, among other charges.

AFGHANISTAN

A massive blast killed at least 43 people and injured at least 65 people Tuesday night, when a bomb detonated in Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan. The blast occurred after the Afghan election commission announced preliminary vote tallies, which put President Hamid Karzai slightly ahead of chief rival Abdullah Abdullah. The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack, and no other group has come forward.

Meanwhile, a women’s leadership program at Northwood University’s Dallas campus brought Afghan and Rwandan entrepreneurs to the United States this summer for hands on training on everything from installing accounting software, creating a Web site and how to manage employees. "If we can teach women from Afghanistan and from any war torn country, if we educate her, she would educate her family and once you do that, you would educate her community," institute and program founder Terry Neese said.

IRAQ

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a powerful Shiite leader, died in Iran Wednesday of lung cancer. He worked closely in the country’s biggest Shiite political party, and was considered by many as a “symbol of their community's victory and seizure of power after decades of oppression under Saddam's Sunni-led regime.” He death comes at a time of major political upheaval among Iraq’s majority of Shiites, as parties have broken apart ahead of the January parliamentary elections, leaving a coalition led by al-Hakim's party against another led by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

In other news, al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Baghdad since U.S. forces withdrew from urban areas late in June. The attack, which occurred last week, killed more than 100 people and wounded 500 others.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

A coalition of veterans and national security organizations have come together as Operation Free, under The Truman National Security Project, to promote clean energy through reduction of oil dependence, which the organization states “ties our hands in foreign policy, funds terrorists, and entangles America with hostile regimes.” Says General Anthony Zinni, former Commander-in-Chief U.S. Central Command, “We will pay for this one way or another. We will pay to reduce greenhouse has emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll. There is no way out of this that does not have real costs."

Servicemembers face countless dangers in Iraq and Afghanistan, from IEDs to suicide bombers, but one of the simplest injuries is very preventable. Damaged eardrums and other hearing loss ailments can be avoided with simple earplugs, but few servicemembers wear hearing protection while deployed. Many feel it will affect their awareness and ability to do their jobs and complete their missions. According to a report by the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly seventy thousand veterans are collecting disability for tinnitus, or ringing of the ears, and more than fifty-eight thousand are on disability for hearing loss. Earlier this year, IAVA member veteran and board member Perry Jefferies discusses his hearing loss with The New Yorker. “While learning how to fire a .50-calibre gun from an armored personnel carrier, he recalled, ‘we had no hearing protection. Afterwards, blood was coming out of one of my ears.’ He had ruptured his right eardrum. Air Force Col. Dr. Joseph Brennan has urged troops to wear hearing protection and cautioned “hearing loss can lead to medical discharge or reclassification to another military occupational specialty.”

The military’s top logisticians have been struggling to figure out how to remove piles of war-fighting equipment from Iraq as U.S. troops near what is suppose to be the final year of combat operations in Iraq. According to one source’s estimates, the cost will be in the tens of billions of dollars, overshadowed only by the complexity of the effort. Over 2.8 million pieces of U.S. equipment are in Iraq, from individual gear to vehicles, to construction material. Much of the equipment will be sent to Afghanistan, where violence is increasing daily.

Women have played an integral part of the U.S. Army since 1775, when they first began working as nurses and cooks. That role has transformed to many different support roles, and women now make up about 14 percent of the active Army. Today, Wednesday, August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. Click here to learn more about women in the Army.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy died early Wednesday morning, after battling terminal brain cancer for over a year. A brief statement released by his family expressed their sorrow and thanked all for their support, "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year." Senator Kennedy was a powerful voice on health care, civil rights, veterans, and war and peace. In his home state, he launched a web hotline for veterans and their families to voice concerns about veterans hospitals and secured additional funding for those facilities. He also pushed for additional spending on Humvee armor in the earlier years of the war in Iraq.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate is on recess until September 8th.

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

August 26, 2009 SVAC will hold a field hearing to address the construction of VA facilities, and in particular the proposed CBOCs in Brunswick, Georgia and Hinesville, Georgia. The hearing may also discuss overall health care access issues in rural areas, such as in the above cities. 2:30 p.m.; 1777 West Cherry St., Jesup, GA 31545 (Stack)

August 28, 2009 - SVAC will conduct a field hearing on the state of VA's services on Maui, to include an OIG report of the same. 10:00 a.m.; Maui Cultural Center (Vasquez)

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The House is on recess until September 8th.

WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING

Blog: Huffington Post
Title: 16 Amazing Women on Twitter and the Awesome Charities They Support
Date: Tuesday, August 25
Representative: IAVA Twitter mentioned

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.