IAVA Daily Brief 11.09.09

IAVA Daily Brief 11.09.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier [1] on November 9 [2] 2009

ft. hood soldier.jpeg [3]

 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 [4].

MUST READS

1) Update on Tragedy at Fort Hood [5]

Eric Shinseki, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said in Tampa on Friday that the VA is developing a wide-ranging effort to provide veterans with education, job training, housing and mental health services, and plans to devote to mental health services over three-quarters of the $3.2 billion it expects to receive next year to fight homelessness among veterans. Several news outlets have turned their focus to the impact of the tragedy at Fort Hood on the troops’ sense of security. As Patrick Campbell, Chief Legislative Counsel for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told the Dallas Morning News [6], “When you come home, you not only take off your helmet and put away your gun, but you take off that psychological Kevlar.” Meanwhile, the full list of victims [7] has been released, while the Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey urged Americans not to get caught up in speculation about the Muslim faith [8] of the alleged Fort Hood [9] gunman. Gen. George Casey [10] says he's instructed his commanders to be on the lookout for that reaction to the killings at the Texas post. He says focusing on the Islamic roots of the suspected shooter could "heighten the backlash" against all Muslims in the military. Click here [11] for IAVA’s statement on the tragic shootings.

2) Iraqi Parliament Passes Long-Delayed Law [12]

Iraq's parliament Sunday night passed a long-delayed law necessary to hold nationwide elections, in a process that has been intensely watched over fears the holdup could delay the January contests and possibly delay the planned U.S. troop withdrawal. The law's passage had been repeatedly delayed by sharp disagreements over how voting would take place in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, claimed by both Arabs and Kurds and a major flashpoint in the country. The lawmakers approved the bill after a tense daylong session during which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill could be seen shuttling between various political factions, in a sign of how closely the United States was involved in the political debate.

3) U.S. Gen. Casey: more troops needed for Afghanistan [13]

General George Casey, Army chief of staff, on Sunday became the latest U.S. military official to advocate sending more troops [13] to Afghanistan as President Barack Obama nears a decision on a new strategy. General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has recommended a 40,000-troop increase, but Casey would not comment on how many additional troops were needed. "I believe that we need to put additional forces into Afghanistan to give General McChrystal the ability to both dampen the successes of the Taliban while we train the Afghan civilian forces," Casey said on Sunday Obama is wrapping up deliberations on war strategy and is considering Pentagon options that include sending about 30,000 more troops, officials said on Saturday.

4) Women Face Roadblock to VA Health Care [14]

PBS’ “To the Contrary” highlighted the IAVA issue report “Women Warriors: Supporting She ‘Who Has Borne the Battle,’” taking a look at the challenges for women within the VA healthcare system. IAVA spokesperson Carolyn Schapper explains that VA hospitals tend to have serious weaknesses in supporting women’s health needs, including mental health. Click here [15] to read IAVA’s full report.

AFGHANISTAN

As Americans, including President Obama [16]’s top advisers, tensely debate whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan, Afghans themselves [17] are having a similar discussion and voicing serious doubts. In bazaars and university corridors across the country, eight years of war have left people exhausted and impatient. They are increasingly skeptical that the Taliban [18] can be defeated. Nearly everyone agrees that the Afghan government must negotiate with the insurgents. If more American forces do arrive, many here say, they should come to train Afghans to take over the fight, so the foreigners can leave.

The embattled Afghan president pledged Sunday [19] that there would be no place for corrupt officials in his new administration — a demand made by Washington and its international partners as they ponder sending more troops to confront the Taliban and shore up his government. Also Sunday, NATO reported three more coalition soldiers — one American and two Britons — died in combat with the Taliban in western and southern areas. The latest losses pushed Britain's combat death toll in the eight-year Afghan war to 201.

The Taliban denied on Sunday they were holding the bodies of two U.S. soldiers [20] who had gone missing last week in northwestern Afghanistan after earlier claiming they had recovered the two dead servicemen. The disappearance of the two paratroopers from U.S. 82nd Airborne Division during a resupply mission on Wednesday, triggered a search by NATO and Afghan forces of Badghis province, near the border with Turkmenistan. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone the Islamist militant group had not retrieved the bodies of soldiers whom they say drowned in Badghis.

IRAQ

As Iraqis who fled their homes to escape sectarian violence are returning, many face high unemployment [21] and poor access to electricity and water, according to a new report [22] by the International Organization of Migration, a nongovernmental group operating in more than 100 countries. In the worst cases, families return to discover that their homes are gone or have been significantly damaged. One-third of returnees interviewed by the group said they felt unsafe some of the time.

A top US army officer said on Sunday he did not have confidence [23] in a hand-held device used by Iraq's security forces to detect explosives and stop suicide bombers passing through checkpoints. Major General Robert Rowe told reporters in Baghdad he was at odds with Iraqi officials on whether the ADE 651, a pistol-shaped gadget sold by a British firm which uses an antenna and is known as the "magic wand," worked.

In what was once one of Iraq's deadliest areas, women who survived sectarian carnage and insurgency now fight a new battle [24] to feed families whose men have been killed, jailed or left jobless. Women clad in all-enveloping abayas eke out a living for their families by tending to the fields.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki "announced the VA will join with the Library of Congress to host a 'veterans History Countdown' on the VA Web site featuring the oral histories of veterans [25] from every state and U.S. territory." Shinseki said that the VA "has partnered with the Library of Congress to honor our veterans, preserve their histories and ensure that their service, sacrifice and heroism will never be forgotten." Since the start of this month, the VA web site has featured a personal history. On Veterans Day, the site will display a veteran's history from each state and territory.

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