Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 10.22.12
Posted by Jacob Worrell on October 22 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) America’s Tragicomic War in Afghanistan

Judging by their relatively low level of interest in discussing America's longest war, the Obama and Romney campaigns seem to be calculating that the path to the White House in 2012 does not go through Afghanistan.

2) Nearly 30% of Vets Treated by V.A. Have PTSD

The Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly released a new report on post-traumatic stress disorder, showing that since 9/11, nearly 30 percent of the 834,463 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans treated at V.A. hospitals and clinics have been diagnosed with PTSD.

3) Foreign Policy Debate: Rhetoric Vs. Reality

President Obama and GOP presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney are getting ready to answer any and all possible questions about foreign policy for Monday night's debate, the last one before the Nov. 6 election. Guy Raz, speaks with three experts about conflicts and countries that are likely to come up in Monday's presidential debate in Boca Raton Fla.

AFGHANISTAN

• A diminished but resilient Al Qaeda is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan's mountainous east even as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but steady toehold to the terrorist group.
• The Taliban dismissed on Sunday a UN report that roadside bombs are causing most civilian casualties in Afghanistan as "Western propaganda.”
• An American security contractor in Afghanistan, who was caught on video so stoned that he couldn't speak, told ABC News that the "nightmare" environment in which he felt trapped drove him to drugs.

IRAQ

• Back-to-back bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market near a revered Shiite shrine and a string of shootings targeting government officials killed at least 17 people Saturday.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Military children have always had to deal with the stressors of being the new kid on the block, and it’s refreshing to see recognition for the affect that has had on their lives.
• A new poll shows that members of the armed forces view veterans’ unemployment as their top concern, and a majority think the country is headed in the wrong direction.

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• Founded by Nancy Feldman in 2006, the Bob Feldman Fund is said to be one of the first and largest American charities to give direct aid to Vietnamese people still living in the former war zones.
• An Army reservist and Afghanistan veteran alleges in a lawsuit that he lost his job as a North Carolina school administrator because of his military service.
• Bruce Kluger reflects upon the characteristics of heroism and where we see those traits today.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• Benjamin Pauker interviews Martha Raddatz about what she would ask the presidential candidates at Monday’s foreign policy debate.
• George Stanley McGovern -- a staunch liberal who served South Dakota in the U.S. Senate and House for more than two decades and who ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1972 -- died Sunday at the age of 90, his family said. In addition to his work in politics, McGovern was also a decorated war veteran of World War II, having served as a bomber pilot with the 741st Squadron of the 455th Bombardment Group of the Fifteenth Air Force.

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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