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MUST READS

(1) Iraq takes control of security, US troops withdraw

Iraqi forces formally assumed control of security in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities at midnight Monday in accord with a June 30th withdrawal deadline for U.S. combat troops in urban areas.  A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the accord's midnight deadline passed; fireworks coloured the Baghad skyline while Iraqis celebrated in parks throughout the city.  In a formal ceremony, the top U.S. military commander in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, gave his Iraqi counterpart the keys to the former defense ministry building, which had served as a joint base.  "On the eve of the 30th of June 2009 in accord with a security agreement between Iraq and America, Iraqis take the lead in Baghdad," Bolger said.  In a statement from Egypt, General David Petraeus said: "While certainly there will be challenges — there are many difficult political issues, social issues, governmental development issues — we feel confident in the Iraqi security forces continuing the process of taking over the security tasks in their own country."

(2) Doctor defends cancer treatment at VA hospital

Two weeks after revelations he botched prostate cancer treatments for more than 100 veterans at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center between 2002 and 2008, University of Pennsylvania doctor Gary D. Kao defended the quality of the brachytherapy radiation program he led at the hospital saying he was "devasted" by recent false allegations he was a "rogue" physician.  "Contrary to the allegations that I was a 'rogue' physician, there were precise standard operating procedures formulated and a system of monitoring and oversight," said Kao, speaking at a "field" hearing Monday of the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee called by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). "I always acted in the best interests of my patients in delivering this important treatment. I have never nor would I ever falsify documents, cover up results or act in a matter detrimental to the interests of any patients."  Currently, under investigation by the VA and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Kao stopped treating patients at both the VA hospital and Penn least year after concerns were raised that 114 patients might have had improper amounts or placement of tiny radioactive seeds to destroy prostate cancer cells.  He continued his National Institutes of Health-funded research at the Penn laboratory until he took an indefinite leave of absence last week.

(3) Marine Finds Unlikely Reinforcements Online: Nerds

At a panel presentation of the 2009 Personal Democracy Forum with Ning CEO Gina Bianchini and Craiglist Founder Craig Newmark, IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff highlighted how new social media technology including Ning-based CommunityofVeterans.org is helping Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with the transition home.  Click here to read his latest column about the network and the journey of IAVA Member Veteran Rey Leal through the community.  Watch a video recap of the presentation below.

AFGHANISTAN

The police chief for Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold, and eight other officers were killed in a clash with U.S.-trained Afghan special forces on Monday, acording to senior provincial officials.  The clash reportedly erupted after the soldiers entered the prosector's office in Kandahar city and forcibly removed an unidentified prisoner.  The U.S. military said it was not involved in the shooting, calling it an "Afghan-on-Afghan incident." However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai suggested that the security guards sought refuge at a U.S. coalition base after the killings, and he "demanded that coalition forces prevent such incidents, which weaken the government."

Meanwhile, the United States and Russia are reportedly near a deal to boost the transit of U.S. supplies to Afghanistan through Russia.  According to officials, the deal could involve a dozen U.S. planes flying over Russia each day with military cargos, rather than just rail shipments of non-lethal supplies as Moscow now allows.  President Obama could sign an agreement as early as next week during a visit to Moscow.

Separately, a day after Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan, said that destroying Afghanistan's opium crop only drove poor farmers to join the insurgency, British government officials maintained its earlier stance that said destroying poppy fields remained a key deterrent to growers and one of the "seven pillars" of its anti-opium strategy in Helmand province.

IRAQ

On the eve of the U.S. pullout from Iraqi cities, military officials announced Tuesday that four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat on Monday.  Late Monday, officials also confirmed a U.S. soldier was killed in combat in Baghdad on Sunday.  Further details were not released.

As U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities Tuesday, Sunni Arab militiamen, whose Awakening Councils are widely credited with turning the tide of the war against Al-Qaeda in Iraq, reported concerns that they are now in the firing line for Al-Qaeda and the Shiite-led central government.  "When the Americans leave, the Iranian militias will arrive," a militia leader said, alluding to Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and the Badr Organisation run by the formerly Tehran-based rebel group, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.

In other news, Associated Press is running a feature today on former Army reservist Lynndie England, the woman who became the grinning face of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.  England reportedly hopes a biography, "Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs that Shocked the World," released this month and a book tour starting in July will help rehabilitate an image indelibly associated with the plight of the mistreated prisoners.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will visit Germany on Tuesday for a brief trip to oversee a change in command at the head of US forces in Europe, and to visit U.S. soldiers injured in Afghanistan and Iraq who are recuperating at Landstuhl.

Meanwhile, the Department of Veterans' Affairs sent the first $250 payments to veterans as part of President Obama's recovery plan on Monday.  The VA is making the one-time payments of $250 to eligible veterans and survivors to offset the effects of the current economy. In total, the department estimates $500 million in payments will be made to approximately 1.9 million veterans and eligible beneficiaries as part of this measure.  To be eligible for the payment, VA beneficiaries must have received VA's compensation, pension, dependency and indemnity compensation, or spina bifida benefits at any time between November 2008 and January 2009.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled Monday that the United States can continue to detain suspected terrorist Haji Wazir indefinitely at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan.  In April, Bates issued a groundbreaking order allowing military detainees in Afghanistan to go to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their confinement; but in Monday's ruled he concluded the right doesn't apply to an Afghan prisoner.  The ruling followed a U.S. government appeal that th military could "move detainees physically beyond the reach of the Constitution and detain them indefinitely."

Though Congress is currently in recess for the July 4th holiday, two major announcements regarding transferring of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits were made last week in Washington. First, the President signed into law the war supplemental bill which extends Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to the children of servicemembers killed on active duty. Second, the Department of Defense finally issued their finals rules regarding transferring of education benefits.  Click here to read the most updated information about the transferability process from IAVA's Chief Legislative Counsel Patrick Campbell.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE 

The Senate will reconvene at 2:00 pm on Monday, July 6, 2009

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS  of  INTEREST

• July 14, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing entitled, “Women Veterans: Bridging the Gaps in Care.”  9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Vasquez)
• 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 is not in session but will reconvene on Tuesday July 7, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST
      

• July 8, 2009  Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing:  Enforcement of VA’s Brachytherapy Program Safety Standards 1:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon
• July 9, 2009  Subcommittee on Health Markup of Pending Legislation 10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon
  
• July 9, 2009  Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Markup of Pending Legislation  2:00 p.m.; 334 Cannon
  
• July 14, 2009  Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: Examining the Progress of Electronic Health Record Interoperability Between VA and DoD  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
  
• July 16, 2009  Joint Subcommittees on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and Health Hearing:  Eliminating the Gaps: Examining Women Veterans’ Issues  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
  
• 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: NPR "The Takeaway"

Title: Moonwalking in Baghdad

Date: Monday, June 29th

Representative: IAVA Member Vet Don Gomez

Outlet: Huffington Post

Title: IAVA Founder on Ning and his Veterans Support Campaign

Date: Tuesday, June 30th

Representative: Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA

Outlet: OpEd News

Title: Personal Democracy Forum 2009

Date: Monday, June 29th

Representative: IAVA

Outlet: Air America

Title: IAVA at PdF 2009

Date: Monday, June 29th

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING

Blog: Antiwar.com

Title: ‘X-File’ Vet May Be Link to Burn-Pit Truth

Date: Monday, June 29th

Representative: Tom Tarantino

Blog: Campus Progress

Title: Paying for College with a Tour in Afghanistan

Date: Monday, June 29th

Representative: IAVA

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.