Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 10.22.10
Posted by Isabel Black on October 22

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 or subscribe at www.IAVA.org/DailyNewsBrief.

1) Video: IAVA member veterans discuss new partnership with JCPenney and Joseph Abboud

IAVA Member Veterans Chris Kurz, Marco Bongianni and Mike Marrinan joined the PIX 11 morning show to display the professional attire that thousands of IAVA members received from the Rucksack.org from IAVA’s most recent initiative.  As part of their efforts to combat veteran unemployment, IAVA partnered with JCPenney and Joseph Abboud to give away $1 million worth of apparel to 5,000 veterans to better prepare them for the civilian workforce.

2) For US troops, peril on the Afghan-Pakistan border

The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan combines some of the world’s roughest war-torn mountains with some of the world’s most complicated political landscapes, providing a multitude of challenges for US forces.  On top of these issues, there is also a great deal of mistrust along the border, between the members of the Pakistan Army, the Afghanistan Army and US troops.
 
3) Opinion: Afghanistan today

An editorial in The New York Times raises questions about the United States’ policies in Afghanistan and whether the government is doing enough to effectively defeat the Taliban there.  Despite the recent troop increase, the Taliban are still fighting and the administration isn’t making the war a priority at home.
 

AFGHANISTAN

• US-funded development firms are beginning to shut down massive reconstruction projects because the Afghan government has refused to rescind a ban on their use of private security guards.

• Mid-level Taliban insurgency commanders do not believe their leaders have begun tentative peace talks with the Afghan government, with many vowing not to give up the fight after nearly 10 years of war.

IRAQ

• Violence in Iraq remains well below the levels of three years ago, but in recent months there has been a wave of targeted killings, with the preferred methods being “sticky” or magnetic bombs and guns fitted with cheap, locally made silencers.

• American influence has so dwindled in Iraq over the last several months that Iraqi lawmakers and political leaders say they no longer follow Washington’s advice for forming a government.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• The Navy has selected four commands as the first submarines to integrate women, a process expected to begin late next year.

• A dog whose actions saved many lives when a suicide bomber blew himself up on a military camp in Afghanistan will be honored at the annual Hero Awards.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• According to Senator Bond and several veterans advocates, the military has been discharging troops who are suffering from combat stress, instead of providing treatment.

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.