Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 12.23.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier on December 23 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.

NOTE: Please find our new "Opinion and Analysis" section below for some of the week's top columns and editorials from around the world.

MUST READS

1) Vets still awaiting GI Bill tuition payments

Universities and colleges are still waiting for tuition payments for thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who attended school last fall under the new GI Bill, leaving the veterans panicked that they'll be unable to return to class in January. The VA estimates there are fewer than 5,000 outstanding claims left to be processed, however IAVA Legislative Associate Tom Tarantino expressed concern about the process moving forward.

2) Temporary housing for family of injured veterans’ sees spike in demand

The Associated Press highlighted the Fisher House, one of 43 organizations nationally that provide free housing to military and veterans' families who have someone being treated at a military or VA hospital. With more than 2,600 soldiers injured in Iraq or Afghanistan last year, the AP reports that demand and waiting lists are growing at these temporary housing organizations.  

3) Seven punished so far under pregnancy ban

Seven U.S. soldiers, including three men, have already been punished under six-week-old rules making pregnancy a violation of military law in northern Iraq. Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, who commands Multi-National Division-North, made pregnancy a prosecutable crime, but said Tuesday he never considered jailing or courts-martial for pregnant women. 

AFGHANISTAN

CNN chronicles the depth of corruption across Afghanistan, noting that “pay offs” even extend to the nation’s DMV, which has seen an uptick in bribes by those hoping to avoid the DMV’s weeks of backlogs.  

A new set of U.S. military spy planes will arrive in Afghanistan by Christmas. The 24 planes will provide ground troops with still images, video and eavesdropping.

The secretary general of NATO sought Tuesday to address fears that international forces would leave Afghanistan too soon, saying that the 43-nation coalition would stand by Afghanistan until the country was ready to stand on its own.

IRAQ

A senior U.N. official acknowledged that strides have been made in Iraq to strengthen democracy despite violence and political feuds, but warned that global expectations are too high and unrealistic. 

Iran on Tuesday said its recent takeover of an Iraqi oil well was the result of a "misunderstanding" and called for the two nations to open talks to clearly demarcate their border.

MILITARY AFFAIRS
A Marine Corps whistleblower said military officials are trying to force him from his job for exposing failures to deliver lifesaving equipment to troops in Iraq.

A clerk for the Colorado Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colo., got a trip to Washington and meeting with President Barack Obama for submitting an idea that may save the government an estimated $3.8 million a year.

A defense attorney for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, said the Army has prohibited his client from praying in Arabic with his family.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Rebuffed by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy an Illinois prison, the Obama administration is unlikely to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest.

OPINION AND ANALYSIS

The New York Times editorial board warns that the bitter discord between Iraq’s Kurdish regional government and the Shiite-Arab dominated central government - over land, oil and the power of the central government - is the most dangerous fault line in Iraq today. Therefore, the situation calls for “deft and sustained American involvement.”

In response to recent reports that a group of insurgents hacked into American military drones using software they got off the internet P.W. Singer, Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, argues that the film industry has done a better job encrypting and protecting movies such as “Terminator” from illegal download than our military has done in protecting its robotic systems at war today.

An editorial in Outlook Afghanistan called China "the most attractive country regarding trade for Afghan businessmen," citing the "huge" amount of small- and medium-scale trade between Kabul and Urumqi. The commentary said Chinese investment and products played a "vital" role in the Afghan economy, and highlighted that direct road connections between China and Afghanistan would help increase trade between the two countries once the roads were completed.

Syndicated columnist William A. Collins offers his analysis of military spending, arguing that current U.S. military expenditures are "maybe double what we really need." His tongue-and-cheek analysis argues that the only thing the military seems to do on the cheap as respond to vets' claims.

In The American Conservative, Kelley Vlahos argues the new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan relies on a legitimate central government, effective local security forces, and Afghan trust in the U.S. military - all of which “bear serious problematic signs of failure today.”

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 9:45 a.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

HR 3590— Health Care Reform

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



The House convenes at 9:00 a.m.

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.

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