Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 12.17.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier on December 16 2009

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 or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief.

MUST READS

1) Iraqi prime minister: Bombings won’t derail U.S. withdrawal

Massive bombings and scattered daily violence won’t slow American troops from leaving Iraq by the end of 2011, Iraq’s prime minister said Wednesday. Nouri al-Maliki blamed al-Qaeda extremists and former Baath Party loyalists for three massive bombings since August, but said the Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for the U.S. military withdrawal remains“in a final form, with fixed timetables.”

2) Gates orders review of military mentor program

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a high-level review of the military's senior mentor programs, including whether retired officers hired as advisers are overpaid and whether their private work for contractors poses a conflict of interest, his spokesman said Wednesday.

3) TSA: Families can now greet troops at gates

According to a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson, families can now greet troops returning from service at the airport gate. The TSA has permitted airlines to provide families with gate passes that allow them to greet troops immediately after they step off the plane.  However, some airlines and airports have varying rules, so families interested in obtaining a gate pass need to check with the airline before arriving at the airport.

AFGHANISTAN

The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.

The Taliban has announced it will release a new video of a U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan, a U.S-based terrorism monitoring group said Wednesday.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asked Russia on Wednesday to give the Western military alliance more help in Afghanistan but failed to get an immediate pledge of assistance from the Kremlin.

IRAQ

Dozens of suspected plotters in last week's deadly suicide bombings that killed 127 people in Baghdad were linked to security forces, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday.

Iraq’s Air Force, which was dismantled after the 1991 Gulf War, is being re-established with the help of the U.S. Neither Iraqi nor US officials envision that Iraq will be ready to protect its skies by the scheduled withdrawal of forces – a worrying prospect for a country with five neighbors, including Iran.

MILITARY AFFAIRS
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said he "couldn’t give the Pakistani Army anything but an 'A'" for how they’ve conducted their battle so far, after eight-months-plus of fighting to clear militants from the Swat Valley.

An airman from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., allegedly shot and killed another airman Friday while the two were playing a “trust” game with a handgun.

A 21-year-old airman who was shot in the abdomen at a remote outpost in Afghanistan last month underwent a rare procedure at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in which cells were rescued from his severely damaged pancreas and transplanted into his liver.

INSIDE WASHINGTON
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $636 billion military spending bill on Wednesday that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate is expected to act on the bill as soon as Friday.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, who chairs a Senate oversight committee, chided the Obama administration Tuesday for not providing information to lawmakers probing the Fort Hood killings.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

Resume the House Message with respect to H.R.3326, Department of Defense Appropriations.

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



The House is not in session

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



No issues today 

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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