IAVA Daily Brief 11.18.09

IAVA Daily Brief 11.18.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier [1] on November 17 [2] 2009

story.clinton.kabul_.pool_.jpg [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) Hillary Clinton makes surprise visit to Afghanistan [5]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Kabul Wednesday in a surprise visit on the eve of the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai. Clinton went straight into a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, before having dinner with Karzai. Her first visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by McChrystal. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that Secretary Clinton will meet with Afghanistan's leadership, international partners and allies, US troops, staff in Provincial Reconstruction Teams, and Embassy staff.

2) Senate Passes Veterans Affairs Budget [6]

Tuesday the Senate passed the 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act (H.R. 3082 [7]) by a vote of 100 to 0. [8] It provides $133.9 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Military housing.  In addition to funding VA health care for 2010, this budget also includes appropriations for FY 2011. This year, as it has been 20 of the last 23 years, the budget for VA health care will be passed late.  By including funding for the next 2 years, the VA will be able to provide health care for U.S. troops without worrying about late budgets.  This advance appropriation was a major victory [9] for IAVA and its partners in the VSO community.  This budget will now go to Conference where the House and Senate versions of the budget will be reconciled in to one bill for the President to sign.  With the VA budget already 48 days late and counting, IAVA urges the Congress to move quickly to bring this to the President’s desk. 

3) More mental health workers due in Afghanistan [10]

The Army will send more mental health specialists to Afghanistan to address soldiers' psychological troubles due to combat stress, repeated tours in war zones and too little time at home, the service's surgeon general said Friday. Army Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said he's ordering as many as 65 mental health specialists to join 43 others already in Afghanistan in an effort to reach more of the 68,000 U.S. troops deployed there -- many of them weary battlefield veterans. "The dwell time effect is pretty strong," said the officer who led an assessment team in Iraq, Lt. Col. Paul Bliese, director of Walter Reed's Army Institute of Research division of psychiatry and neuroscience. "It turned out to be more important than some of the other variables." Dwell time is time between deployments. Schoomaker's directive came as the Army released its sixth Mental Health Advisory Team assessment for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Afghanistan findings showed rates of psychological problems involving a combination of acute stress, depression or anxiety this year were similar to rates there in 2007, but still significantly higher than in 2005. About 30 percent of troops in Afghanistan on their third war-zone deployment since 2001 suffer from some psychological issue.

4) Fort Hood slayings prompt Pentagon review [11]

The Pentagon will investigate its procedures in light of the Fort Hood shooting rampage, looking at how all the military services keep a watch on potential problems in their ranks, officials said Tuesday. The probe is still in the planning stages, but would be a broad examination beyond the particulars of Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, officials said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants a unified probe that hits all corners of the Pentagon, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said. "This is shaping up to be a DoD effort," Morrell said, using shorthand for the Department of Defense. "This is larger than the Army. There are issues that need to be looked at department-wide, and the focus at this point is trying to figure out some of those questions," he added. The Army has also been preparing to launch its own internal probe. The Pentagon review could supersede that, although it is not clear whether the Army will still go ahead separately. Meanwhile, Congress is considering a bill that would allow victims of the Fort Hood shooting to be eligible for the Purple Heart [12].

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has slipped three places to become the world's second most-corrupt country [13] despite billions in aid meant to bolster the government against a rising insurgency, according to an annual survey of perceived levels of corruption. Only lawless Somalia, whose weak U.N.-backed government controls just a few blocks of the capital, was perceived as more corrupt than Afghanistan in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Since 2001, the U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $39 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan, according to a report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. European nations send about 1 billion euros ($1.49 billion) a year, a total of 9 billion euros since 2002.

Afghanistan's population is currently around 28 million, making it one of the fastest- growing countries in the world, Richard Cincotta says in an analysis in Foreign Policy. [14] By 2030, the United Nations predicts that this number will pass 50 million, while the U.S. Census Bureau says it'll stay under 43 million. The difference, Cincotta argues, could mean Afghanistan's stability and prosperity. Because the population has quadrupled over the past sixty years, there's no infrastructure prepared to deal with the influx. "Why have we heard so little mention of this issue from either the Afghan or U.S. governments?" According to Cincotta, it's because the problem centers around the size of Afghan families and how the country treats its women. Unless Afghanistan improves the quality of life for women, large numbers of women and children will continue to die in childbirth, and birthrates will remain high. Before the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, Cincotta concludes, they should make it a priority to improve the lives of Afghan women, otherwise Western troops may be returning sooner than they expect. 

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday he was confident the alliance would agree to increase substantially the number of troops [15] battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is weighing several options for boosting U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan as a debate rages in his administration over whether to persist with a counter-insurgency strategy or to narrow it to a counter-terrorism drive against al Qaeda. "In a few weeks, I expect we will decide, in NATO, on the approach, and troop levels needed, to take our mission forward," Rasmussen told a meeting in Edinburgh of the NATO parliamentary assembly, which includes lawmakers from around the world. "I'm confident it will be a counter-insurgency approach, with substantially more forces," he said, promising there would soon be a "new momentum" behind the NATO mission. In an interview with Reuters later, Rasmussen said there was a broad consensus in support of the "general thrust" of the recommendations made by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.

A rocket attack apparently targeting French forces that killed Afghan civilians raised security concerns [16] Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan about international troops' ability to secure a volatile valley despite a major offensive. Monday's assault in Tagab missed the shura — a traditional meeting called by French officers to explain their operation to local elders— but hit a crowded market area. Fourteen Afghan civilians were killed and dozens more wounded, said Afghan Gen. Paikan Zamaray. A day earlier, French and Afghan forces launched a major offensive in the Tagab valley, but the assault underscored how difficult it is for troops to protect civilians and combat insurgent violence, especially because an increased military presence can draw more violence. Those concerns are likely to be amplified as Western countries commit more forces to Afghanistan.

IRAQ

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday his country needs more help from France [17] as it tries to rebuild in the face of continued violence. Talabani is on a four-day state visit to France billed as a sign that his war-battered country is rebuilding international ties ahead of the departure of U.S. forces by the end of 2011. France, which led international opposition to the Iraq war, is looking to enhance ties — notably economic. "Iraq today extends the hand of friendship," Talabani told hundreds of dignitaries and other invited guests in an ornate and mirrored banquet room at Paris City Hall. "Iraq wants to cooperate with France, and aspires to get more help for the Iraqi people from France," he said, adding that Iraq is looking to retrieve its rightful place in the community of nations. The Iraqi people "continue to face challenges and dangers, and, indeed, we still suffer from terrorism," Talabani said. Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq over the past year, but Iraqi politicians and security officials have warned in recent weeks of a possible spike in violence in the run-up to the country's national polls as insurgents look to undermine the government and destabilize the country

More than six years after the U.S. invasion left Iraq's main zoo [18] a wasteland of starving animals and deserted cages, the park in central Baghdad is enjoying a vigorous revival and needs to grow. Few Iraqis ventured into Baghdad Zoo during the violence that surged after the 2003 invasion. But as the bombings and shootings receded, families started to return in droves -- so many, in fact, that officials are now desperate to expand the park which is home for the zoo to make space for them all. The zoo has replaced the hundreds of animals that escaped, were stolen, died of thirst or hunger and now has 1,070 animals, said the director general of parks and gardens, Salah Abu al-Lail.

U.S. soldiers interrogated by the Army in the 2007 murders of four Iraqi detainees [19] blamed a military policy they said made it too hard to detain suspected insurgents, a CNN investigation has found. Soldiers questioned in the killings said the sergeant in command of their detachment ordered the suspected insurgents killed because Army rules made it too difficult to hold them. "They're gonna be right back on the streets," one soldier put it. CNN obtained an 23½ hours of Army interrogation videotapes that detail the March 2007 executions of the prisoners by three sergeants who were attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment.  The Army, citing an ongoing investigation, refused to release the Leahy tapes after CNN requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Soldier suicides [20] this year are almost sure to top last year's, but a recent decline in the pace of such deaths could mean the Army is making progress in stemming them, officials said Tuesday. Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli said that as of Monday, 140 active duty soldiers are believed to have died of self-inflicted wounds. That's the same as were confirmed for all of 2008. "We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year — this is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way," he said. But Chiarelli said there has been a tapering off in recent months from huge numbers of January and February. "I do believe we are finally beginning to see progress being made," Chiarelli told a Pentagon press conference. He attributed that to some unprecedented efforts the Army has been trying to work with soldiers through new programs. The Army widened suicide prevention in March in an attempt to make rapid improvements in its programs and policies. Army efforts to curb suicides also were increased Oct. 1 with the beginning of the so-called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, which aims to put the same emphasis on mental and emotion strength as the military traditionally has on physical strength. Basic training now includes anti-stress programs as part of a broader effort to help soldiers deal with the aftereffects of combat and prevent suicides.

A 21-year-old single mother serving with the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division is facing a possible court martial [21] because she failed to turn up for deployment to Afghanistan, saying that she could not find anyone to care for her infant son. Alexis Hutchinson, who serves as an army cook, was meant to have joined her division for a flight to Kabul on November 5th, but failed to show up. She was arrested and temporarily placed in custody while her 10-month-old child Kamani was put into a daycare on her military base in Savannah, Georgia. Hutchinson denies any suggestion that she was trying to avoid deployment, insisting that she was only acting out of concern for her boy. She had placed him in the care of her mother, Angelique Hughes, in Oakland, California, but after a couple of weeks Hughes found she was overburdened and unable to commit for a whole year looking after him.

Right now in Afghanistan, most U.S. infantrymen don’t have a personal radio, or a way to digitally keep tabs on their fellow troops. One brigade has got the right gear - but it means strapping on an extra eight pounds’ worth of radios and computers. But next month, 10 or 20 extremely lucky special forces will get another option to locate and talk to one another: handheld PCs [22] that weigh a pound and half each. The 5th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division is currently using the eight-pound system, called “Land Warrior,” [22] on patrol in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. The rest of America’s infantry units get by on a few radios per squad.  But if the DisOPS (”Distributed Operations”) gadget works, that could all change. Not only does it let troops talk and send messages over WiFi, tactical radio and cell phone networks. Soldiers can plan missions and mark target on digital maps. “Navigation tools help troops determine the range and azimuth between any two objects marked on the map. If they receive a target’s location by radio, they can input the code and the system automatically plots it on the display,” National Defense magazine reports. It’s even got a sniper detector built in.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

A Congressional mandate [23] to ensure the new Walter Reed National Medical Center will be a “world-class” medical center has turned into a war of words between the deputy secretary of defense and an independent review board charged with checking the military’s progress. The new Walter Reed medical center is scheduled to open in 2011 at the campus of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md., under BRAC policy that will shutter Walter Reed Army Medical Center that is six miles away in Washington, D.C. According to the Defense Health Board’s Base Realignment and Closing Health Systems Advisory Subcommittee, the Pentagon still needs: A master plan for the region’s medical centers as well as for the new Walter Reed facility itself, continued budget funding for construction on the project, to determine who will be in charge of the joint facility, and to make changes to fit the definition of “world class,” such as larger operating facilities and single-patient rooms. Those findings come from a report [24] submitted to the Defense Department on July 2 called “Achieving World Class: An Independent Review of the Design Plans for the Walter Reed National Medical Center and the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.”

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

S 1963 — Veterans’ Health Care Package

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



The House will convene at 10:0 a.m.

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST



No issues today

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST



November 19, 2009  Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health Hearing:  Review of VA Contract Health Care: Project HERO  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon

November 19, 2009  Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing:  Adaptive Housing Grants  1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon

December 2, 2009  Veterans’ Affairs Committee Hearing:  VA Health Care Funding: Appropriations to Programs  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

December 3, 2009  Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Roundtable  1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

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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