IAVA Daily Brief 11.11.09

 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 [1].

MUST READS

1) Veterans Week 2009: We've Got Your Back [2]

Today, on Veterans Day, IAVA will launch an innovative new series of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) as a part of its National Veteran Support Campaign with the Ad Council. Building on the theme of  "We've Got Your Back", the bold campaign aims to ease the readjustment challenges facing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as they transition from combat to civilian life. The campaign encourages new veterans to find support by joining IAVA's online community, the first social network exclusively for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, where they can find mental health resources, educational information and tips on how to navigate the VA. Want to get an exclusive look at the new ad today?  Click here [2] to become an IAVA fan on Facebook for a first look at the ad when it launches or visit www.iava.org/vetsweek [3] to learn more about how you can support our troops and veterans in your own community today.

2) Obama Salutes Fort Hood Victims, Condemns Murders [4]

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama began an afternoon of consolation by meeting privately with family members of those killed last week and with those wounded in the attack and their families. Obama used his public remarks to put a human face on those who perished, victims ranging in age from 19 to 62. One by one, President Barack Obama spoke the names and told the stories Tuesday of the 13 people slain in the Fort Hood shooting rampage. He also used his platform to speak indirectly to questions about whether the alleged shooter had ties to extremist Islamic ideology. Thousands upon thousands of people, many of them soldiers dressed in camouflage, gathered to pay their respects and hear the president. The shooting killed 12 soldiers and 1 civilian, injured 29 others and left a nation stunned and searching for answers.

3) Democrats Criticize Coburn’s Delay; Veterans Deadline Likely Missed [5]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Sen. Tom Coburn “illogical" for holding up a veterans care bill Tuesday, criticizing the Oklahoma Republican for supporting war funding while blocking health care funding for veterans. Coburn has a hold on the bill, a legislative tactic to prevent its passage. He sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), saying that the Caregiver and Veterans Services Act of 2009 needs to be fully debated because it will cost taxpayers more than $3 billion over the next five years. The bill provides funding for families who care for wounded soldiers. Democrats had hoped to have the bill voted on by Veterans Day, however Congressional Quarterly [6] is reporting that the vote may be delayed until next week.

4) Obama Weighing Four Options for Afghanistan [7]

President Barack Obama's deliberations over war strategy in Afghanistan have narrowed to four options but a decision is still weeks away, the White House said on Tuesday.  Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs declined to tell reporters what the options might be.  Officials described Wednesday's White House meeting, which will bring together Obama's top military and civilian advisers, as critical to a decision after two months of deliberations. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Obama was considering options that included sending roughly 15,000, 30,000 or 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan to try to stem Taliban gains.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan's new government will be clean and honest [8], the foreign minister pledged Tuesday, after international calls mounted for Kabul to eradicate widespread graft in the country. "We will have a very clean and honest cabinet," Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told reporters after talks with his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt. Sweden holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. President Hamid Karzai's cabinet "will have new faces, active faces, credible faces," said Spanta, considered close to the head of state.

Hundreds of Afghan and international troops already battling a rising militant insurgency are facing a new fight — recovering from swine flu [9], the virus that has left 11 people dead in the country. The Ministry of Public Health said Monday that 710 of the 779 cases of H1N1 reported since early July have been among Afghan, U.S. and Italian troops. The 11 people who have died from the virus were all Afghans, including one soldier.

An Al Jazeera video broadcast Tuesday shows insurgents [10] in eastern Afghanistan using what appears to be U.S. weaponry.  American forces left the remote area last month after eight troops were killed, the Associated Press reports. However, the U.S. military said that before they departed the forces removed and accounted for their equipment. The footage shows insurgents handling anti-personnel mines with U.S. markings on them, though it has not been determined when the video was filmed.

IRAQ

The policies and tactics [11] of Kurdish authorities are exposing minority groups in northern Iraq to “another full-blown human rights catastrophe” unless the minorities receive better protection, according to a report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. Members of the minority groups are being singled out by extremist insurgent groups.

The court ruling in which the Guardian (U.K.) was ordered to pay [12] the Iraqi prime minister damages of 100m dinar is part of a wider crackdown against media outlets designed to discourage scrutiny of public officials, according to one of the country's leading journalism bodies. The Journalists Freedom Organization, which has lobbied for press freedoms for the past six years, says the Iraqi media have been inundated with legal complaints from officials in recent months and have lost official access and status to state-backed organizations.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

On Tuesday, Eric Shinseki, the secretary of veterans affairs, returned to Fort Hood, Tex., where he was a division commander in the mid-1990s, to pay tribute to two veterans affairs employees who died in the shootings there last week. But the visit also underscored [13] Mr. Shinseki’s current mission: to modernize the problem-plagued Department of Veterans Affairs. In response, IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff told the New York Times that Shinseki “faces one of the greatest rebranding challenges in American government.”

 Civic Enterprises released a report today about the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, entitled All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service. This extensive survey [14] of these all-volunteer vets shows that 92% want to serve their communities once they return home, and nearly as many believe their service should stand as an example for those who haven't served. Less than half of the 779 veterans who responded feel engaged in their communities, and only 13% strongly feel their transition back to civilian life is going well.

An Air Force veteran and a one-time contractor who served in Iraq are suing military contractors [15] Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc., accusing the companies of exposing them to toxic fumes and ash from "burn pits" for waste. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville on Monday by former Air Force Sgt. Sean Alexander Stough of Stanton and Charles Hicks of Bellevue, claims the military contractors burned everything from human remains to tires in open-air pits, exposing everyone nearby to harmful ash and smoke.

Darren Manzella saw two tours of duty in Iraq, first as a combat medic and later as a liaison officer. He earned three promotions in his six years as a U.S. Army sergeant. In 2006, Manzella's unit was sent back to Iraq, and he served his 15-month deployment with his unit knowing he was gay [16]. During his tour he appeared in a news segment and acknowledged he was gay. In June 2008, Manzella received an honorable discharge. His discharge papers read "homosexual conduct admission."

INSIDE WASHINGTON

With unemployment among young veterans in New York topping 14.6 percent, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is making a personal pitch [17] today to New York business to hire veterans and receive a tax break from the federal government in return. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which was expanded earlier this year as part of the Economy Recovery Plan, can help thousands of veterans who are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to find a still-reeling economy and scarce jobs.

Landmark legislation [18] giving military spouses the same right enjoyed by service members to pick their state of legal residence has cleared its final hurdle in Congress and is on its way to becoming law. The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act would affect issues ranging from driver’s licenses and vehicle registration to voting rights, property ownership and taxation.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

SENATE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No Issues today

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



The House is not expected to be in session the week of November 9 – 13, 2009

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.