BattlelandPTSD
White House aides emphasized Friday that President Obama’s announcement this week to send condolence letters to some troops who commit suicide was designed to patch a hole in a policy President Obama inherited. It’s part of a broader effort to recognize and address the common mental wounds of war, but it is also starting to feel to …
BattlelandPTSD
The Pentagon seems to be distancing itself from an increasingly bungled-looking effort by the White House to use condolence letters to acknowledge military suicides as legitimate casualties of war, according to a statement sent to TIME.
President Obama announced on Wednesday that the White House would reverse a longstanding policy and …
BattlelandPTSD
Some veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families are vexed by the seemingly arbitrary, location-based limits of a new White House policy to use condolence letters to acknowledge military suicides as legitimate casualties of war.
The disappointment is particularly palpable among family of troops who committed suicide after …
BattlelandLibya
A lot of ink has been spilled (including my own) about whether the president is waging an illegal war in Libya, etc. etc. etc. Obama also got beat up for forging a coalition to attack Libya (Leading from behind!). He got attacked (by me and others) for advocating force in Libya while standing idly by and watching slaughter unfold in …
BattlelandPTSD
The White House Wednesday formally announced the new policy to send condolence letters to some soldiers who go to war and commit suicide, but not others. The White House says only those soldiers actually deployed when they commit suicide will get condolence letters. That excludes the majority of suicides that are much more likely to …
BattlelandVeterans
A new White House policy to send condolence letters to the family of troops who go to war and commit suicide excludes the vast majority of those soldiers and their families, undercutting President Obama’s stated effort to defray the stigma associated with mental health problems from combat. The loophole has also disappointed veteran …
BattlelandMiddle East
It used to be easy to cover the Republican party when it came to national security issues. For the most part, members of the GOP could usually be counted on to come down on the hawkish side of a debate or vote.
Toss in tens of thousands of casualties, ten years of war, billions of dollars spent, a new front opening in Libya, and a …
BattlelandPakistan
I noted early last month reports that suggested Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, was involved in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a journalist.
A stunning piece in the Times today alleges that Obama administration officials also think the ISI did it.
New classified intelligence obtained before the May 29 disappearance
…
BattlelandNational Security
If you think the Justice Department’s decision yesterday to limit torture investigations to two cases is the end of the torture story in the United States, think again. Wait around for a while. U.S.-style torture will be back.
According to the CIA’s 1963 KUBARK interrogation manual, when the CIA gets a new prisoner, he should be …
BattlelandTerrorism
Are you feeling “inspired to take action in furtherance of the goals of al-Qaeda —the organization and the ideology—including by engaging in violence regardless of whether such violence is targeted at the United States, its citizens, or its interests?”
Well, look out. We might kill you.
BattlelandBattleland
Yesterday’s big Arlington National Cemetery story was that the FBI is investigating possible criminal acts at Arlington.
The other thing going on is that frustrated members of Congress are seriously considering yanking authority to run Arlington National Cemetery away from the Army and giving the cemetery to the Department of Veterans …
BattlelandNational Security
The FBI is conducting a criminal inquiry into Arlington National Cemetery. The burial mixups there have made big news. Was any of it against the law? Probably. Here are a few reasons to think so.
Reserving graves:
It’s against the law to reserve grave locations at Arlington. The previous Superintendent, Jack Metzler, did it …
BattlelandNational Security
The FBI is investigating the mishandling of remains at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as possible contracting fraud and falsification of records, according to a report in the Washington Post. The paper cites “people familiar with the investigation.”
The report says the probe has been going on for six months, and it is unclear if …
