IAVA Daily Brief 04.10.09

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.

MUST READS

(1) Obama wants another $83 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan [1]

Democratic sources said late Thursday that President Obama will ask Congress for another $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the supplemental spending bill will be the last requested by the Obama administration. According to the figures, about $75 billion of the request would pay for military operations, including $9.8 billion for body armor and protective vehicles and $11.6 billion to replace worn-out equipment. The rest would go to diplomatic programs and development aid -- including $1.6 billion for Afghanistan, $1.4 billion for Pakistan and $700 million for Iraq. Another $800 million would be set aside for the Palestinian Authority, including humanitarian aid for Gaza; $800 million to support U.N. peacekeeping missions in Africa; and $30 million to the Department of Justice to manage the closure of the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In total, the request would bring the running tab for both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to about $947 billion.

(2) Obama Offers Plan to Improve Care for Veterans [2]

Fulfilling two campaign promises to veterans, President Obama announced Thursday his Administration will work in the coming months to improve services for our nation's veterans by: (1) computerizing the medical records of veterans so they flow directly from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system when a veteran retires from active-duty service and (2) supporting a measure that would allow Congress to approve the funding for the Veterans Healthcare Administration one year in advance so that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki can be more predictive in accounting for staff, equipment and service needs. To read IAVA's statement in response to the initiatives, click here [3].

(3) Facing unemployment, soldiers happy for Iraq deployment [4]

Gathering interviews at a farewell ceremony at Fort Sill, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that many New Jersey and Pennsylvania guardsmen are choosing deployment to Iraq as an alternative to unemployment amid the economi crisis. "I volunteered to go, and one of the biggest reasons is the economy," said one 26-year-old soldier, who recently lost a private security job. "It's an entire year I'm getting paid and don't have to worry about looking for a job." Some of the soldiers who recently lost jobs said companies have been able to bypass USERRA laws by arguing the cuts are part of company-wide force reductions.

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. military officials reported coalition forces working with Afghan soldiers killed 27 suspected insurgents [5] Friday, including five militants [6] from a network linked to a suicide attack that claimed the lives of coalition troops in January. The raid occurred in the Maywand district of Kandahar province, where two U.S. soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on January 8th. Officials did not confirm a direct connection.

The raids came as General David McKiernan [7] met Friday with villagers in Helmand and Kandahar — two of Afghanistan’s most violent provinces- to foster good will ahead of the U.S. troop surge that will send 21,000 more forces into the region. During the meetings, Mckiernan apologized for some of the mistakes U.S. forces have made in the past, including arresting people based on information taken from one side in a tribal fight and killing civilians during operations. “I’m trying to connect to the local population in a bottom-up way and try to explain what the new U.S. strategy means and why they’re going to see an increased force presence where they live,” McKiernan said.

Speaking with reporters during his trip, McKiernan cautioned [8]: "I think we're going to see another violent year... not because the Taliban are stronger. It's going up because the insurgency is very resilient and very adaptive." For the first time, McKiernan also disclosed precise locations [7] where U.S. combat troops arriving this summer will deploy: The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, expected to arrive in May or June, will deploy in eastern Farah province and from Lashkar Gah — the capital of Helmand province, the world’s largest opium producing region — south toward Garmser. An Army Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis, expected to arrive in July and August, will deploy in Kandahar province, in the eastern districts around Spin Boldak and northern regions around Arghandab, Khakrez and Shah Wali Kot.

Across the border, Sufi Muhammad [9], a hard-line cleric who negotiated a peace accord that halted fighting between the Taliban and security forces in part of northwest Pakistan, said Thursday he will leave the region to protest the government's failure to impose Islamic law. According to some analysts, the threat casts serious doubt on the durability of a cease-fire in the Swat valley which is fast becoming a sanctuary for allies of al-Qaida pushed out of Afghanistan.

IRAQ

Five U.S. soldiers [10] were killed Friday when a suicide bomber slammed a truck packed with explosives into an Iraqi army and police base in Mosul. The attacked killed two Iraqis and injured more than 70 people. Separately, Iraqi police in the southern city of Basra said Friday they arrested 65 people in overnight raids after an attack on a U.S. convoy in the area and the kidnapping of two guards working for a local Iraqi security firm.

Five Iraqi expatriates and the Nashville, Tenn.-based Kurdish National Congress filed a federal lawsuit [11] in Baltimore Thursday alleging that three companies illegally sold materials to Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1980s for making chemical weapons that were used to carry out attacks against thousands of Iraqi Kurds. The complaint seeks class action status for an estimated 100,000 Kurds. Companies involved in the lawsuit include VWR International LLC of West Chester, Pa.; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., of Waltham, Mass.; and Alcolac Inc., of Cumberland, Md.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

An internal investigation [12] by the U.S. Army reportedly determined no wrong doing in the case of an Army psychologist at Fort Carson in Colorado who said he was pressured by officials not to diagnosis PTSD. However, Salon questions the credibility of the investigation in a new report out today suggesting that the individuals assigned by the Army to investigate the case were connected to the individuals allegedly pushing for fewer diagnosis.

A jury of eight OIF/OEF Marines acquitted Illinois Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer [13] Thursday on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during a 2004 battle in Fallujah, Iraq. In closing arguments, the defense team argued Weemer acted in self-defense.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Larry Scott at VA Watchdog reports Friday that in all the fuss surrounding a March proposal from the White House's Office of Management and Budget to bill insurance companies [14] for a veteran's service-connected VA care, the most strident opponents of the proposal were the insurance companies themselves. According to OMB estimates, the insurance companies - with powerful lobbying capability inside the Beltway- stood to pay out at least $500 million in the first year if the VA had adopted the proposal. Read his report here [15].

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will reconvene April 20, 2009.

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

April 22, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing on pending health legislation. 2:30 p.m.; 418 Russell (Ballenger)
May 6, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing on pending benefits legislation. 9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Ballenger)
May 7, 2009 - Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, hearing on the VA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. Secretary Shinseki will be invited to testify. 2:30 p.m.; Location: TBD (Lukas)
May 21, 2009 - SVAC will mark-up pending legislation. 9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Ballenger)

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES

The House will reconvene April 20, 2009.

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

April 20, 2009 - Full House Veterans Affairs Committee Field Hearing on Building the Critical Health Infrastructure for Veterans in Jacksonville, Florida Noon; Florida Community College, 501 West State Street, Jacksonville, Florida
April 21, 2009 - Full House Veterans Affairs Committee Field Hearing on Building the Critical Health Infrastructure for Veterans in Orlando, Florida 9:30 a.m.; Board of County Commission Chambers, 201 South Rosalind Avenue, Orlando, Florida
April 23, 2009 - House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing: Legislative Hearing on H.R. 952, Combat PTSD Act 10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon
April 28, 2009 - House Appropriations, Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, will hold a hearing on the VA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. Secretary Shinseki will be invited to testify. 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Location TBD (Lukas)
April 30, 2009 - House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing: Charting the VA’s Progress on Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Our Veterans: Discussion of Funding, Mental Health Strategies Plan, and the Uniform Men