FIGHTING DEMS NEWS SERVICE

foreign policy * national security * military & veterans affairs

 

January 24, 2007 

Vol. 2 No. 2      

 

THE NEWS HEADLINES

 

Veterans Surge Opposition To Iraq Surge

Inside Iran Debate Grows Over Ahmadinejad

Rocky Start For House Veterans Committee

Text Of Democratic Response By Jim Webb

Short & Sweet

 

THE OP/ED HEADLINES

 

Still Clueless After Six Years

Are Carter And Clark Anti-Semites?

Foreigners Protecting America?

 

About Fighting Dems News Service

 

THE ARTICLE SUMMARIES AND LINKS

 

VETERANS SURGE OPPOSITION TO IRAQ SURGE
Veterans who played a key role in last year's elections that handed control of both the House and Senate to Democrats are organizing for a major legislative lobbying effort to support a bipartisan Congressional message against the planned escalation of troop levels in Iraq and support of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) as a first step "in reining in this President."
FDNS Report At: http://tinyurl.com/2ubvlh

 

INSIDE IRAN DEBATE GROWS OVER AHMADINEJAD
Inside his own country Iran's fiery President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is coming under increasing fire over his handling of Iran's nuclear program on the international scene and there are reports that Iran's supreme leader is considering policy changes in an effort to diffuse tensions with the West.
FDNS News Analysis At: http://tinyurl.com/32eo6v

 

ROCKY START FOR HOUSE VETERANS COMMITTEE
New House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) started his new job by sacking several senior Democratic staffers igniting concerns among both Democrats and veterans' lobbying groups that the committee may be unprepared to execute its responsibilities.
FDNS Report At: http://tinyurl.com/2ls3us

 

TEXT OF DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE BY JIM WEBB
This is the text of the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union message written and given by Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia.
Text At: http://tinyurl.com/yr79v5

 

SHORT & SWEET

 

Make Veterans' Health Care Cost Of War

 

Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the new chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee said the Veterans Administration is deeply in need of more money and he's going to attempt a new maneuver to get the funds.

 

"I'm proposing to do it by justifying it as a cost of war and not ... have us stand in line with other committees for whatever [money] is there in the treasury.

 

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been producing a stream of new veterans with increasing numbers of cases involving amputations, brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

Part of the problem has to do with Congress failing to complete the Veterans' Administration's annual funding bill last year.  It would have increased funding by $3 billion.

 

Bush On Sacrifice

 

In a recent interview with PBS' Jim Leher, President Bush was asked  if the war in Iraq was as important to the United States, if not the world, as he repeatedly says it is,  why are only the troops and their families, not anyone else, being asked to sacrifice.

 

Bush:  "Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight.  I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.  I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war."

 

THE OP/ED SUMMARIES AND LINKS

STILL CLUELESS AFTER SIX YEARS
George W. Bush still does not get it.  He insists that the terrorists hate us because of our freedom.  NO THEY DON'T!!!!!!   What sheer, utter nonsense.  If you don't understand the task or problem at hand how can you come up with an appropriate fix?  This is part of the reason that the Bush Presidency is in shambles.  Call it the hubris of stupidity.
Contributing Editor Larry C. Johnson At: http://tinyurl.com/2cguh3

 

ARE CARTER AND CLARK ANTI-SEMITES?
Not if one is basing their judgment on  facts, reality and history rather than cheap political rhetoric.
Contributing Editor Bernie Quigley At: http://tinyurl.com/2g66g2

 

FOREIGNERS PROTECTING AMERICA?
Why is it so unpalatable to Americans? It shouldn't be; as a nation of immigrants, somewhere in our ancestral pasts, our forbearers were "foreign" to the soil we now call our homeland ... So then, why is the thought of foreign born, legal resident recruits anathema to so many American critics?
Guest Column By Paul Connors At: http://tinyurl.com/yw95dk