Veterans For America

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Gen. David Petraeus is not the President’s only adviser on the issue of how many troops to keep in Iraq past this coming summer. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen told the committee: “We must get Army deployments down to 12 months as soon as possible.” It would appear that the Pentagon’s leadership is trying to head off any attempts by Gen. Petraeus to cause 15-month tours to continue.

In other congressional news, the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees have expressed opposition to the President’s VA budget for fiscal year 2009. Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) of the House notes that increasing fees and prescription co-payments amount to a tax on veterans, and Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) of the Senate notes that the increases for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) will not amount to much when higher operating expenses and inflation are taken into consideration.

Finally, the Washington Post asked on Sunday why it took another suicide attempt for the Army to do the right thing in the case of 1LT Elizabeth Whiteside, the Army Reserve officer who attempted to take her life while on tour in Iraq and was under the threat of court martial for having done so. Even though Whiteside’s doctors said that she needed to receive treatment and not be punished, and the Army investigator said the same thing, the threat of judicial action remained hanging over her head for over a month. The Army must do better in treating those who served their country and are suffering because of it.

For the rest of today’s news, please visit the Our Troops Newsladder.