19 December 2024

Associated Press | Trump Says It Was 'Stupid' for Biden to Let Ukraine Use US Weapons to Strike Deeper into Russia

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he may reverse President Joe Biden's recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.

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CNN | Netanyahu tells Israeli troops to stay in area of Syria’s Mount Hermon until end of 2025, source says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the country’s military to remain in the area of Syria’s Mount Hermon until at least the end of 2025, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN on Wednesday.

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Wall Street Journal | U.S. Fears Military Buildup by Turkey Signals Preparations for Incursion Into Syria
Senior U.S. officials say Turkey and its militia allies are building up forces along the border with Syria, raising alarm that Ankara is preparing for a large-scale incursion into territory held by American-backed Syrian Kurds.

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Military Times | 12 ISIS fighters killed in new round of US strikes on Syria, DOD says

U.S. forces in the Middle East conducted the second round of strikes in Syria in as many weeks, killing 12 enemy fighters Monday.

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The New York Times | Seeking Relief From Brain Injury, Some Veterans Turn to Psychedelics

A van full of U.S. Special Operations veterans crossed the border into Mexico on a sunny day in July to execute a mission that, even to them, sounded pretty far out.

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Military.com | VA Review Finds Underused Therapists and Misused Scheduling for Mental Health Care at Georgia Clinic

A program designed to educate veterans on the various treatments for mental health conditions actually hindered access to medical care and contributed to the underuse of six therapists at a Georgia Veterans Affairs clinic, a Department of Veterans Affairs investigation found.

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Stars and Stripes | ‘Disturbing and disgusting’: House lawmakers investigate rampant sex, harassment, misconduct The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has investigated multiple whistleblower accounts of rampant sexual assault, misconduct and consensual sexual activities that took place inside the VA Mountain Home health care facility in Tennessee.

Foreign Policy | Start by Keeping Ukraine Out of Ceasefire Talks | Anatol Lieven
The incoming Trump administration seems genuinely committed to finding peace in Ukraine. Whether it’s capable of the extremely complicated diplomacy required is a very different question. One issue that will have to be decided at the very start of the process is at what stage, and on what issues, Ukraine should be involved in the process. The issue is more fraught than has generally been acknowledged.

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Washington Examiner | The VA has a mission to complete. Congress and Trump can see to it | Jessica Villarreal
I’ll never forget the day I discovered the Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t care if I lived or died. I had been struggling with my mental health for a while and was at a point of desperation, verging on suicidal. I know many of my fellow service members know this feeling. Our experiences in uniform can be ghosts that return to haunt us often, even after the healing we’ve done.

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Responsible Statecraft | McCarthyism, European style: The elite crackdown on Ukraine dissent | Eldar Mamedov

As the war between Russia and Ukraine is framed by the ruling politicians and commentators in Europe and America as part of a purported global struggle between democracies and autocracies, the quality of democracy in the West itself has taken a hit.

Earlier this month, Chairman Bost introduced The Complete the Mission Act of 2024 – a bill that would protect veterans’ health care choices from bureaucratic meddling and hold the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accountable for improving veterans’ awareness of and access to their preferred treatment choices – even when that treatment is not at a VA facility.

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Read CVA’s full statement here.