Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 07.20.09
Posted by Michelle McCarthy on July 20 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.

MUST READS

(1) U.S. Identifies Captured GI, Condemns Taliban Video as Family Issues Statement

On Sunday, U.S. defense officials denounced the release of a Taliban video showing captured Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, in traditional Afghan dress, being prompted in English by his captors to call for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan. "We condemn the use of this video and the public humiliation of prisoners. It is against international law," U.S. military spokesman Colonel Greg Julian said. "We are doing everything we can to return this soldier to safety." In the video, portions of which were posted on the internet video sharing site YouTube, Bergdahl appeared with his head shaven and a slight beard drinking tea and eating bread and rice. "I am scared. I'm scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner," he said in the recording. "I have my girlfriend who is hoping to marry. I have my grandma and grandpas. I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America." Bergdahl also said in the video he was lagging behind a U.S. patrol when he was captured, which conflicts earlier military accounts that indicated he left the base with three Afghans. The Pentagon gave no details of the kidnapping. Bob Bergdahl, the soldier’s father, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the family was requesting media respect their privacy. “We hope and pray for our son’s safe return to his comrades and then to our family, and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us by our family members, our friends and others across the nation,” Bergdahl said in a statement issued through the Department of Defense. “Please continue to keep Bowe in your thoughts and prayers.” Bergdahl is a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. He deployed to Afghanistan in February.

AFGHANISTAN

A roadside bomb killed 12 Afghan traders as they drove through Afghanistan's remote west on Monday in an attack apparently meant for Afghan and foreign troops, according to local officials. The blast happened on a dirt road that links two districts in Farah province, where Taliban insurgents usually plant roadside bombs to target convoys of foreign and government troops. Over the weekend, two U.S. service members died when their F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed early Saturday in central Afghanistan, near the Nawur district of Ghazni province. A statement by the Air Force Central Command said the crash was not due to hostile fire, and a board of officers would be convened to determine the cause. On Sunday, a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter also went down at Kandahar, killing 16 people on board.

In an interview Friday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that victory in Afghanistan was a "long-term prospect" under any scenario and that the U.S. would not win the war in a year's time. However, he cautioned that U.S. forces must begin to turn the situation around in a year, or face the likely loss of public support. "After the Iraq experience, nobody is prepared to have a long slog where it is not apparent we are making headway," Gates said in the interview. "The troops are tired; the American people are pretty tired."

Gates comments came as The New York Times reported over the weekend that Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a confidential message last week to all of the military service chiefs and senior field commanders asking them to redouble their efforts to alert troops to the importance of treating detainees properly. Additionally, report by Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, who was credited with successfully revamping American detention practices in Iraq, is currently circulating among senior American officials and recommends separating extremist militants from more moderate detainees instead of having them mixed together as they are now at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Under the new approach, the United States would help build and finance a new Afghan-run prison for the hard-core extremists who are now using the poorly run Afghan corrections system as a camp to train petty thieves and other common criminals to be deadly militants. The remaining inmates would be taught vocational skills and offered other classes, and they would be taught about moderate Islam with the aim of reintegrating them into society.

IRAQ

A U.S. Marine was killed Sunday in western Iraq during a “combat-related incident as a result of enemy action” in Anbar Province. No further details were provided by military officials. Meanwhile, late last week, Iraqi security forces arrested two men who were reportedly among a group of people recently trained in Iran to fire Katyusha rockets at U.S. bases and to plant homemade bombs. On Sunday, two Katyusha rockets hit Camp Echo, a United States base in Diwaniya Province in southern Iraq, but authorities did not disclose injuries.

Separately, in what some are calling a risky political move, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki reportedly plans to visit the graves of American soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery during a trip to Washington this week and to offer a personal "thank you" to the men and women who gave their lives for the sake of a new Iraq.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The Olympian highlighted over the weekend how former combat veterans and locals near Fort Lewis in Washington are helping Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Warrior Transition Units to heal through a fly fishing program called Project Healing Waters. "Project Healing Waters has been at Fort Lewis for about a year now," said Chuck Tye, a retired U.S. Marine who is the Northwest regional coordinator for the program. "The program offers both mental and physical healing for veterans, whether they have post-traumatic stress disorder or injuries." The intricate work of tying a fly or the precise timing of casting a fly rod plus the added benefit of being out on the river combine physical therapy and mental therapy, Tye said. Started in 2005 in the Washington, D.C., area, there are now programs in 38 states. Click here to learn more and get involved with the program.

On the health front, the number of chlamydia cases reported at Army medical facilities by active and reserve-component soldiers steadily rose from 6,138 in 2004 to 8,192 in 2008, according to Army doctors. In a statement, Army medical professionals say they cannot attribute the rise to any particular cause. However, "the increased rates are likely to represent an increase in screening,” said CDC spokeswoman Nikki Kay.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

The Obama administration is reportedly considering creating a special unit of professional interrogators to handle high-value terror suspects, focusing on intelligence-gathering rather than building criminal cases for prosecution, government officials told the Associated Press speaking on condition of anonymity. The recommendation is expected from a presidential task force on interrogation methods that plans to send some findings to the White House on Tuesday. The unit’s structure would depart significantly from such work under the Bush administration, when the CIA had the lead and sometimes exclusive role in questioning al-Qaida suspects. The task force has not reached a conclusion as to which agency should lead the unit or where it should be based, the official said.

Meanwhile, in an interview while traveling to India, U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States is to locate and free captured Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl. "It's just outrageous," she said in the interview. "It's a real sign of desperation and inappropriate criminal behavior on the parts of these terrorist groups, so we are going to do everything we can to get him.” Clinton said she was not free to talk about whether the soldier was still in Afghanistan.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 2:00 p.m.

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

July 29, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing entitled, "Review of Veterans' Disability Compensation: Forging a Path Forward." 9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Smith)

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES

The House will convene at 1:00 p.m.

House Appropriations will continue mark up of a draft fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations bill at 9.00 a.m. on Wednesday in 2359 Rayburn.

FUTURE HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

July 23, 2009 Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing: Examining Quality of Life and Ancillary Benefits Issues 10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
July 30, 2009 Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: The Implications of VA’s Limited Scope of Gulf War Illness Research 10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

IAVA IN THE NEWS

Outlet: Military.com

Title: VA Failing to Serve Women Veterans

Date: Monday, July 20th

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Outlet: MSNBC

Title: Grave Offenses at Arlington

Date: Friday, July 17th