Obama begins visit to Iraq; Dean Baker on billionaire banker and Social
Security foe Peter Peterson; "friendly fire" kills nine police in
Afghanistan;
William J. Astore on the rejection of the "Generation Kill" mentality; VA
falls short of helping PTSD patients, leaving them vulnerable to suicide;
and
more ... Browse our continually updating front page at
http://www.truthout.org
t r u t h o u t | 07.21
Obama Arrives in Baghdad
http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-arrives-baghdad
According to The Associated Press: "Barack Obama today began his first
on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White
House,
with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he has long
opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop
withdrawals. His stop in Baghdad is the second major leg of a war zone
tour
that opened in Afghanistan. The contrasts in tone and message were
distinct."
Dean Baker | Vicious Ideologue Renews Attack on Social Security
http://www.truthout.org/article/vicious-ideologue-renews-attack-social-security
Truthout contributor Dean Baker writes: "Billionaire investment banker
Peter
Peterson is back on the warpath. He just established a new foundation with
a
$1 billion endowment, the main purpose of which is to cut back spending on
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These programs, which provide an
essential safety net to virtually the entire country, are hugely popular
and
will be politically difficult to cut. Nonetheless, $1 billion is a lot of
money. Therefore, Peterson's campaign deserves to be taken seriously."
International Strikes Kill Nine Afghan Police
http://www.truthout.org/article/international-strikes-kill-nine-afghan-police
Agence France-Presse re****ts: "Nine policemen were killed in Afghanistan
Sunday in international military air strikes called in when police and
troops
clashed after mistaking each other for Taliban, authorities said. The
fighting
erupted at about 1:30 am when Afghan and international soldiers moved into
a
district without informing police, who thought they were militants, the
deputy
governor of southwestern Farah province said. 'An engagement took place,
each
side thinking the other was the Taliban,' Mohammad Younus Rasouli told
AFP."
William J. Astore | Reclaiming Our Citizen-Soldier Heritage
http://www.truthout.org/article/reclaiming-our-citizen-soldier-heritage
For TomDispatch.com, William J. Astore writes: "When did American troops
become 'warfighters' - members of 'Generation Kill' - instead of
citizen-soldiers? And when did we become so proud of declaring our
military to
be 'the world's best'? These are neither frivolous nor rhetorical
questions.
Open up any national defense publication today and you can't miss the ads
from
defense contractors, all eagerly touting the ways they 'serve' America's
'warfighters.' Listen to the politicians, and you'll hear the obligatory
incantation about our military being 'the world's best.' All this is, by
now,
so often repeated - so eagerly accepted - that few of us seem to recall
how
against the American grain it really is. If anything - and I saw this in
studying German military history - it's far more in keeping with the
bellicose
traditions and bumptious rhetoric of Imperial Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm
II
than of an American republic that began its march to independence with
patriotic Minutemen in revolt against King George."
Lives Lost at Home
http://www.truthout.org/article/lives-lost-home
Kevin Graman re****ts for the Spokesman Review: "A distraught 26-year-old
Navy
veteran who had a history of mental illness hanged himself within three
hours
of seeking help at Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The July 7
death
of Lucas Senescall was the sixth suicide this year of a veteran who had
contact with the Spokane VA, a marked increase in such deaths. Last year,
there were two suicides among veterans treated at the local VA.
Senescall's
death comes amid heightened concern nationwide over the suicide rate among
veterans."
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