Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 08.15.12
Posted by Hallie Seegal on August 15 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) Leon Panetta: There’s A War Going On

On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta took both presidential campaigns to task for their persistent failure to discuss the war in Afghanistan, national security, defense and terrorism. IAVA founder and executive director Paul Rieckhoff expressed the sentiment of the veterans’ community: "From watching the campaign debate so far, it's hard to tell America is still a country at war.” There are currently 84,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, 41 were killed in July, and 13 have been killed in August so far, including six casualties on August 10 alone.

2) Marine Dakota Meyer Steps up to Help Veterans Find Success Back Home

Dakota Meyer, the first living Marine to earn the Medal of Honor, talks with the Daily Beast about his service, his new veterans employment initiative and his own personal difficulty transitioning back to civilian life after the battle of Ganjhal. 

3) Inside-the-wire Attacks Double in Afghanistan

Afghan troops attacking U.S. and NATO forces now account for nearly 10 percent of American casualties in the war in Afghanistan this year. So-called “green-on-blue” attacks have doubled compared to last year, killing 34 NATO troops. A total of 102 NATO troops, including 51 Americans, have been killed in these insider attacks since 2007. 

AFGHANISTAN

• As of Tuesday, 1,953 servicemembers have died in Afghanistan since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.
• Bombings and shootings took the lives of at least 43 Afghans on Tuesday in the deadliest day for civilians this year as insurgents struck while people were preparing for the Muslim holiday that ends the month of Ramadan. 

IRAQ

• A new report by the Council of Foreign Relations examines two major struggles threatening Iraq’s future prosperity, an ethno-sectarian violence and a constitutional breakdown. The piece details preliminary signals that may lead to crisis, as well as a variety of preventative measures the U.S. could implement. 

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• The U.S. military is joining with border-patrol officials in a new initiative that could bring dozens of surveillance blimps from the battlefields of Afghanistan to America's border with Mexico. 
• A military judge refused to delay the trial of Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan charged in the deadly Fort Hood shooting, fining him for refusing to shave and allowing a controversial terrorism expert to testify at the court martial expected to start Monday.

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• Adam Driver, who plays Lena Dunham’s boyfriend Adam Sackler in the HBO show Girls, reveals he enlisted in the Marine Corps prior to pursuing an acting career. Driver eagerly anticipated joining the Middle Eastern battlefield, and was devastated when a broken sternum suffered in a mountain biking accident prevented him from being deployable. Driver was honorably discharged in 2004 and attended the University of Indianapolis on the G.I. Bill.
• Gator Growl, the nation's largest student-run pep rally, is joining Jacksonville's Wounded Warrior Project by giving wounded veterans and their families a chance to attend this year's pep rally free of charge.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• General Martin Dempsey, who recently returned from a trip to Silicon Valley, is urging Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation that would allow DoD, industry and other key agencies to share information about threats “at network speed.”

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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