VETERAN’S NEWS from the internet
Gathered by Bob Kinsler, SSG (ret), US Army, VFW Dept. of Oklahoma, Public Affairs Team Member
VFW Demands Accountability, Transparency in Afghanistan War Investigation
The following is a message from VFW National Commander Fritz Mihelcic
“It has been more than four months since U.S. military operations in Afghanistan came to an end, and yet we still don’t have clarity as to what went wrong and why it ended the way it did. As politicians, the media and society seem to have moved on, Gold Star families, our Afghan allies, and veterans of the war in Afghanistan still bear the physical and mental burden of our disastrous withdrawal after 20 years of blood and treasure sacrificed in response to the attack on Sept. 11, 2001. There still needs to be accountably and our government owes us answers.
In September 2021, less than a month after the withdrawal, Congress hastily attempted to get those answers. However, both the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Sept. 14 hearing “Examining the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan” and the House Armed Services Committee Sept. 29 hearing “Ending the U.S. Military Mission in Afghanistan” seemed to be just political posturing and theatrics instead of genuine scrutiny of those responsible for the deadly evacuation, and the embarrassing abandonment of our Afghan allies and U.S. citizens. Very little ownership was taken by representatives of the Administration, and the American public was left with most of its same questions unanswered, the most puzzling being the one I asked back in August 2021, “How is it that we placed our trust, the security of our operations and the lives of our nation’s sons and daughters in the hands of the violent extremists we have been fighting against for the past twenty years?”
On Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will both testify before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in a closed hearing on the U.S. Policy on Afghanistan. While we understand the need for operational security, there needs to be more transparency as to what our nation’s policy was and is toward the Taliban and their new regime. The terroristic threat to the U.S. still lurks in Afghanistan even though we are no longer at war there.
Wars and rumors of wars are in the 24-hour news cycle more and more these days. Before we decide to deploy droves of our men and women in uniform off to another conflict on foreign soil, we must remember how the last one ended - with the tragic death of 13 U.S. service members heroically doing what their nation called them to do despite senior leadership’s miscalculations and failure to adjust appropriately to conditions on the ground.
Again, the American people deserve more answers, expect more from our elected officials and demand more accountability from the ones who continue to send our loved ones into harm’s way.”
Matthew M. “Fritz” Mihelcic, Commander-in-Chief, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.
New committee to help improve care for Native American veterans
By Jonathan
Lehrfeld, Service
Medill News
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough tasked his agency’s new Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs with helping the VA take more innovative approaches to serving Native American veterans.
The newly created panel, one of 27 VA advisory committees, met for the first time on Tuesday to advise the VA on everything from COVID-19 efforts to homelessness among American Indians and Alaskan Native veterans. Its 15 members are Native American veterans, each from different tribal nations.
“My commitment to you was and is clear, that VA will not make decisions about you without you,” said McDonough.
He also outlined his goals for the advisory group. “The work of this committee will be essential in helping us to find and to develop better and more innovative ways to serve native veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” he said.
Jack Austin, an Army veteran and the Assistant Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, serves as the advisory panel’s chairman. “I believe this is a great opportunity for our native veterans’ voices to be brought to the table with hope of solutions for the real struggles they face today,” he said.
Veteran benefits, native cemeteries and health care services for rural and urban communities are among the issues being discussed during this week’s session.
Over 140,000 Native Americans veterans currently receive their health care through the VA but have faced significant challenges receiving care during the pandemic, something McDonough charged the committee with helping to resolve.
“There are many hard truths that need to be addressed, and I will be here for my people addressing those truths on their behalf,” said committee member Reyn Kaupiko, a Navy veteran and Native Hawaiian.
The new advisory committee was created by Congress in 2020 and members were officially appointed to their roles in October. Although committee recommendations are not binding, other VA advisory committees have had more than 90 percent of their suggestions accepted, according to Jeffrey Moragne, director of the VA Advisory Committee Management Office.
In addition, the VA’s existing Office of Tribal Government Relations serves veterans who are members of tribal nations.
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee said the new committee has an important role to play.
“Native Americans serve our nation in uniform at the highest rates, and it’s critical these veterans are well represented at VA and empowered to shape department policy to meet the needs of all Native veterans,” said Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Sen. Jerry Moran, the top Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called the committee “an enduring forum to learn more from these veterans and tribal leaders on how VA and Congress can best serve this veteran population.”
The committee meeting will continue through Thursday.