Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 10.01.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier on October 1

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) After Pressure from IAVA, VA Responds to Help Student Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will expand outreach to student veterans eligible for up to $3,000 in special emergency payments of their GI Bill education benefits.  Starting Oct. 2^nd, student veterans can apply online at the VA website for emergency payments or request free transportation to the nearest VA benefits office to submit their claim. IAVA worked extensively around this issue, as student veterans across the nation were hindered by delayed payments for their education. IAVA issued a statement," This isn't a permanent solution, but it should help student veterans focus on classes, instead of how they will pay their bills." You can read the full text of the statement here. 

2) Obama, top advisers review Afghan war

With top commanders and congressional Republicans pushing for more troops, President Barack Obama met Wednesday with leading members of his national security team to hash out a response to Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's report on the Afghanistan war and his request for more U.S. forces to save the mission. When he installed McChrystal as commander in Afghanistan this year, Obama ordered him to write an assessment of the conflict. The dire answer came back in September, declaring the United States would fail to meet its objectives of causing irreparable damage to Taliban militants and their al-Qaida allies if the administration did not increase American forces significantly. Obama has taken a go-slow approach on the McChrystal report. White House officials say it may take weeks before the president decides whether to overhaul the U.S. strategy or send more troops.

3) U.S. Critic of Karzai Is Fired From U.N. Mission

Peter Galbraith, the top American official for the United Nations in Afghanistan, was removed from his post Wednesday after an open clash with the head of the United Nations mission. "UN sources say Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decided to end Mr Galbraith's mission after it became clear he was no longer able to carry out his work in Afghanistan." Galbraith's ousting follows a recent dispute with the U.N.'s lead Afghanistan envoy after Galbraith called for a complete recount of the country's fraud-marred elections. With American officials increasingly accepting the idea that Mr. Karzai will be the next president, Mr. Galbraith’s stance put him at odds with both the Obama administration and the United Nations.

AFGHANISTAN

Top officials charged with protecting the U.S. homeland on Wednesday pointedly stressed the danger from terrorists in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. In Senate testimony, the officials said that despite recent arrests, they remain deeply worried about al Qaeda's intentions and plotting. "My greatest concern still is the ability of al Qaeda to use western Pakistan and Afghanistan as sanctuary," FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "If you look at the most serious case we have had recently, the Zazi case, it was the training in Pakistan that gave them the capability of undertaking the attack," Mueller said.

In the summer of 2009, Ben Anderson of VBS-TV traveled to the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan to document the first military campaign ordered by President Obama. Anderson provides an inside view of what life is like for Echo Company's U.S. Marines - including getting ambushed by the Taliban and hit by a roadside bomb. Click here to watch the trailer.

IRAQ

The United States plans to help Iraq's cash-strapped government acquire military equipment by leaving some used American equipment behind and by helping it finance new purchases, the commander of U.S. forces there said on Wednesday. General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told the House Armed Services Committee that the Iraqi ministries of defense and interior, after paying salaries and other fixed expenses, had scant discretionary spending left to buy the equipment they need. "What I want to be able to do is assist them in some small ways by using stay-behind equipment -- potentially leaving for them -- as well as improving their ability to not have to pay all costs upfront from foreign military sales, where they can spread it over a longer time period," Odierno said.

General Odierno on Wednesday also warned Congress against losing sight of Iraq as a key Mideast ally, even as safer conditions have let him send home more U.S. troops faster than expected. But Afghanistan was on the minds of lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee who wanted to know whether U.S. troops and equipment were being shifted there. Odierno reminded lawmakers that Iraq, with its fledgling democracy, could be a key U.S. partner in the Mideast given its location and natural resources, like oil. "It's important for us to stay engaged," Odierno told the House panel. "We have spent a lot of money. We have spent a lot of personal sacrifices inside Iraq. And security is headed in the right direction. We don't want to lose sight of that."

Iraqi politics has a new catch phrase, the “yes we can” of the country’s coming parliamentary elections. It is “national unity,” and while skepticism abounds, it could well signal the decline of the religious and sectarian parties that have fractured Iraq since 2003. Across the political spectrum — Sunni and Shiite, secular and Islamic — party leaders have jettisoned explicit appeals to their traditional followers and are now scrambling to reach across ethnic or sectarian lines. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a conservative Shiite whose party has deep Islamic roots, has enlisted support from Sunni tribal leaders in areas that once were — and might again be — the heartland of opposition to the central government. With the elections only four months away, the emergence of national unity as a theme has been welcomed by Iraqis and by American officials, who fear that identity politics in Iraq will only worsen tensions and risk a return to sectarian bloodshed.

In a new piece for the New York Times' "Home Fires" blog, Iraq war veteran Sandi Austin describes her experience as a veteran, mother and full-time worker. Recently Austin was notified that she could be out of work by mid-November. She said her experience in Iraq puts things into perspective: "at least nothing is blowing up around me." She goes onto say that the potential loss of her job is the first freedom she recalls feeling since she returned from Iraq in 2004, after completing her six-year enlistment.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday welcomed home from Iraq 110 National Guard soldiers – including his son, Delaware Attorney General and Army National Guard Captain Beau Biden.  Biden was joined in Dover by about 800 Delaware residents welcoming home the 261st Signal Brigade.

In show of support for allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces, an article in an official military journal argues forcefully this month for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that requires gay people in the services to keep their sexual orientation secret. In an essay in Joint Force Quarterly that was reviewed before publication by the office of Adm. Mullen, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, an Air Force colonel, Om Prakash, writes that “after a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly.” Although the article carries no weight as a matter of policy, it may well signal a shift in the official winds. It won the 2009 Secretary of Defense National Security Essay competition. The article, which was first reported by The Boston Globe on Wednesday, also states that the law has been costly — about 12,500 service members have been discharged since the ban went into effect in 1993 — and argues that it undermines the unit cohesion it has sought to protect.

Motivational music has been used by the military for centuries but in modern wars, soldiers are bringing their own playlists. Professor Pieslak is a music theorist at the City College of New York. Over the past few years he has interviewed US soldiers about the music they listen to and -- more importantly -- what they listen to it for. The subjects of Pieslak's interviews are among the first generation to take MP3 players to war. Some, only half joking, say iPods should be standard issue for soldiers. The psychological effect the music has, and highly stressful situations, make for a powerful mix. Listen to the insightful interviews here.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

A Senate committee reviewing the increased use of contracted health care for veterans’ disability exams and treatment is growing increasingly skeptical that this is a cheaper or higher-quality alternative to using Veterans Affairs Department health care workers. About one-quarter of the medical exams required for compensation and pension claims are handled by contract doctors as part of an effort launched in 1996 to address delays in getting appointments. But the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which endorses the idea of reducing appointment wait times, is not sure the increased reliance on contract health care is a good thing. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he doubts that an exam to determine a veteran’s disability rating could be done as accurately by a contract doctor as by a VA physician with years of experience. VA officials said they are restructuring their contract oversight from local authority to more centralized control so they can better monitor services and costs.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST



October 8, 2009 - Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Markup of Pending Legislation   1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon
 
October 14, 2009 - Full Veterans’ Affairs Committee Hearing:  Update on the State of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

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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