VFA News Analysis: July 16, 2008

Congressional report finds that at least 8,763 vets died while waiting for their benefits and that at least 28,283 disabled vets were denied retroactive pay because of bureaucratic backlogs.

Stop-loss compensation pay for troops kept in uniform beyond their regular terms of service? YES, say readers of Stars and Stripes.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned against the “creeping militarization” of U.S. foreign policy and urged that more diplomacy be deployed, rather than troops, when dealing with other countries. He urged that more resources be used for the State Department. Gates’ remarks come as operations in Iraq continue to grind through our troops, our treasury and our time with still no end in sight.

This week Francisco Martinez will land in Iraq as an Air Force Reserve, and begin dealing head-on with the death of his son who was killed by a sniper in Ramadi more than three years ago.

They say the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq is over — but we still have some 150,000 troops there, or about 15,000 more than when the buildup began. President Bush notes that the Iraqis “invited us to be there.” The surge was begun to give the Iraqis time for political reconciliation. Now, the Iraqi parliament is without a quorum because Kurdish leaders walked out.

The VA is set to begin advertising its suicide prevention hotline. A pilot project will put ads in the Washington D.C. area on metro cars and buses.

National Guard members nowadays risk heavy combat rotations and repeated deployments to war zones — a situation unheard of since the days of World War II. In Missouri, they now have to deal with the theft of their personal information.

Where’s our National Guard? Overseas…

Military families missing organizations ready to help them…

Afghanistan’s descent…

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