Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 08.28.09
Posted by Michael Houston on August 27

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) Student veterans Pinched By Aid Delay

As student veterans gear up for classes this fall, many are disappointed to find that the Department of Veterans Affairs has not yet processed their GI Bill claims. Earlier this week, the VA website showed that 211,251 pending applications remain, compared to the 43,522 at this time last year. The VA is now telling school officials there will be a six- to eight-week delay before all the claims are processed, and most student veterans are unsure of when to expect their money. Some schools have countered that by submitting applications for the Yellow Ribbon Program as early as possible and not penalizing student veterans for overdue bills. “We’re trying to be as lenient as we can not to penalize students when it’s out of their control,” a university employee said. According VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, speaking earlier this week, the new bill is likely to affect the country the way the original GI Bill did in 1944.In other GI Bill news, click here for a explanation of transferability by Pentagon assistant director Bob Clark. For more information on the new GI Bill, visit www.NewGIBill.org.

2) Opinion: War – What War?

An op-ed in today’s Mercury News by Victor Hanson, a historian at Stanford University, emphasizes the lack of news coverage and support the war in Iraq receives today in contrast to years prior, and the possibility that the war in Afghanistan will suffer the same fate. According to Hanson, “so far there have been none of the public protests that we used to see in connection with Iraq,” to which he asks “why?” His answer is two-fold. First, “Over the past few years, we have become used to the idea that Afghanistan was ‘quiet.’ Indeed, fewer were killed there in most years than in some of the bloodiest single months in Iraq.” Secondly, he states many still believe the Afghanistan war is still “good,” while the Iraq war is “bad.” However, compared to Iraq, Afghanistan is a far greater challenge he goes on to say, as the country is “landlocked, backward, with a harsh climate and little natural wealth,” whereas Iraq “has ports, a central location, oil riches, flat and open terrain, and an educated populace.” In conclusion, he states that if causalities continue to mount, the American people will rally against the war in Afghanistan and Obama will be blamed for what Americans once believed was necessary and just. A similar piece in the New York Times asks, “Could Afghanistan become Obama’s Vietnam?”

3) U.S. Warns Karzai on Fraud, Corruption

Citing concerns about allegations of fraud and corruption, U.S. envoys and lawmakers have warned Afghan President Hamid Karazi that, “American patience is running out.” Early tensions began when Richard Holbrooke, President Obama’s envoy to the country raised the possibility of a run-off at a lunch earlier this month. The conversation turned “tense”, and the lunch ended shortly after. Tensions flared when Karzai’s campaign declared victory over the election even though none of the results had been released earlier this week. Washington fears such declarations, “undercut the commission and cast doubt on the election's legitimacy.” Additionally, accusations of fraud within the country have not been welcomed. One citizen was allegedly beaten and arrested after complaining about fraud. Meanwhile, the Taliban launched its deadliest attack Thursday night, leveling an entire city block to rubble killing over 40 and wounding more than 60. What was most disturbing about the attack was the apparent targets – civilians, not police or coalition forces, raising questions of what the government will do to protect it’s people

AFGHANISTAN

July and August are now tied for deadliest months of the eight-year war, as a roadside bomb killed a U.S. servicemember in southern Afghanistan Friday, bringing the number of deaths in August to 45. Also on Thursday, Gen. Stanley McChrystal released his new counterinsurgency strategy, telling troops that “the supply of militants is ‘effectively endless’ and that U.S. and NATO forces need to see the country through the eyes of its villagers,” and hopes with the new approach “troops will make the safety of villagers the top priority, above killing an endless supply of militants.” Meanwhile, Turkey has pledged to double its peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan, with reinforcements brining their forces from 795 to 1,600, to arrive when Turkey takes over control of the rotating command of NATO operations. A blog entry in Doonesbury’s The Sandbox, by a soldier stationed in Afghanistan, emphasizes the dangers of serving in that country, and the challenges of understanding the Afghan culture

IRAQ

At least eight roadside bombs injured dozens of Iraqis Thursday and killed at least three, according to a Reuters security update. The bombs were detonated in Mosul, Baghdad, Taji and Kirkuk. A specialized seminary organized by a family of prominent American Shiite scholars that would train Americans and Europeans to lead mosques in the West has been delayed, as violence erupted in the country. Several dozen applications had been submitted before the inaugural session was canceled. If the violence in Iraq abates, the plan is to open the seminary in the fall of 2010. Doubts have been cast over the authenticity of the Picasso painting found in southern Iraq. When examined by experts, several spelling mistakes were found and names were in lower-case letters, and shows documentation that it was sold by The Louvre in Paris to The Museum of Kuwait. However, the Louvre said it “has never had a Picasso in its collection and does not sell its works because they are government property.”

MILITARY AFFAIRS

In continuing coverage of the Stars and Stripes report that the Pentagon is compiling profiles of reporters covering U.S. military operations and grading them on that coverage, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman stated, “For me, a tool like this serves no purpose and it doesn’t serve me with any value,” and that he has inquired about the issue, but no formal inquiry will take place. Officials with U.S. Forces-Afghanistan acknowledged that the media profiles do exist, but stated that no favorability ratings are compiled. However, those claims “run counter to the actual media profiles,” which Stars and Stripes revealed earlier this week.

There’s a new type of boot camp for servicemembers, only they won’t be spending any time on the firing range or doing pushups. The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) of The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University aims to provide business training for U.S. war veterans to help make the transition from combat to civilian life. The EBV has three stages – an online module where students get up to speed with business fundamentals, an intensive nine-day "bootcamp" at a university, and a yearlong mentorship from the EBV and successful local entrepreneurs. The courses are open to veterans with a "service-connected disability" who have served since September 2001. Mike Haynie, who spent 14 years in the air force before becoming an entrepreneurship professor at Syracuse, says there have been 400 applications this year for 115 spaces, but hopes to expand the program in the future.

Three Fort Bragg soldiers who had previously been charged with killing two female soldiers last year were indicted by a North Carolina grand jury Thursday. The Fayetteville Observer reported Thursday that the first-degree murder indictments were issued after the grand jury heard testimony from Fayetteville police detectives who investigated the slayings.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Congress is in recess until September 8th.

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. 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.

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