Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 08.14.12
Posted by Michelle McCarthy on August 14 2012

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings that IAVA is tracking. Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVA and click here to get the News Brief delivered to your inbox every morning.

MUST READS

1) Afghanistan war: Can the US gains last?

Almost 11 years into the US-led war in Afghanistan and just weeks before the US military begins winding down its yearlong surge into Ghazni Province, the situation still remains so tenuous that locals worry about the safety of accepting development aid from the West.

2) Paul Ryan VP pick: Vets' reactions mixed

Politico reports that veteran groups from the VFW to Special Operations for America PAC are mixed on whether a Romney-Ryan administration would be good for the nation’s current and former service members. Read their analysis here.

3) Veterans Affairs agency under investigation for conference spending

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $5 million—and set aside $4 million more — last year for two training conferences whose organizers are under investigation for breaking ethics rules by improperly accepting gifts, congressional committees and government sources said Monday.

AFGHANISTAN

• At least 28 people have been killed and 70 injured in a triple suicide bombing attack in a relatively peaceful city of Nimroz province.
• Afghan officials say there is heavy fighting between Afghan and Pakistani forces in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan.

IRAQ

• Iraq’s ongoing conflicts with Iraqi Kurdistan threaten to bring new violence to the country.
• After years of vicious sectarian strife between Muslims, individual cases are increasingly coming to court in Iraq. But justice suffers because lawyers are often easy targets in a country where rule of law remains weak.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Nine Nobel Peace Prize winners are speaking out against a new NBC competition series - Stars Earn Stripes - that they say treats military maneuvers like athletic events. What your thoughts? Join the conversation and sound off inside Community of Veterans.
• A second soldier accused of driving Asian-American Army private Danny Chen to suicide received a six-month prison sentence after pleading guilty Monday to reduced charges in a court-martial at Fort Bragg.

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• The friends of West Point graduate and Major Thomas Kennedy, who was killed in an attack last week in Afghanistan, have started a trust to support his wife and two young twins. Learn more about how you can help here.
• Marie Tillman, the widow of Army Cpl. Pat Tillman and author of “The Letter: My Journey Through Love, Loss, and Life,” recently sat down with the Chicago Tribune to talk about building a new life in Chicago. She currently serves as the President of the Pat Tillman Foundation which provides college scholarships to service members, veterans and military spouses.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) has called for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to give “fair and due consideration” to a controversial Medal of Honor nomination, said to be sitting on his desk, for Army Captain Will Swenson, linking it to a stalled high-profile case for a deceased Marine sergeant.
• Politico reports that defense hawks are cheering Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate, with the top Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees heaping praise. Ryan has had a starring role in the Republican effort to fence off the defense budget, shielding the Pentagon from spending cuts while pushing reductions in other areas.

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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