What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
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| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
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| Reducing Suicides: VA Adopts Policy on Emergency Care for Mental Health Patients |
This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive provides policy to ensure the provision of safe and secure mental health services during all hours of operation for Emergency Departments (EDs) and Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) in VHA |
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Al Qaeda Blamed for Iraq Violence Wave
Written by CNN
Monday, 10 August 2009 10:47
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August 10, 2009 - Al Qaeda in Iraq is trying Monday to foment sectarian tensions by attacking and killing Iraqi civilians, a government spokesman told CNN.
Bombings across the country have killed 48 and wounded 231 others -- most of them civilians in Shiite areas -- according to Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf. "Most of the terrorists attacks carried out by al Qaeda in Iraq were against civilians and not Iraqi security forces," Khalaf said. "This is an indication that al Qaeda in Iraq cannot face the Iraqi security forces." The deadliest attack on Monday happened near the northern city of Mosul when two truck bombs destroyed 32 homes, killing 30 people and burying others in the rubble, officials said. The bombs targeted al-Khazna village, which is inhabited by a Shiite Shabak ethnic group. The village is an area disputed between Kurds and Arabs. Car bombings and a roadside bomb in Baghdad killed 18 others on Monday, most of them Shiites. "This is the card that al Qaeda in Iraq is now playing by targeting mostly Shiite areas and neighborhoods to agitate the sectarian violence," Khalaf said. "But this will not happen because Iraqi security forces and Iraqi people in general are aware of this losing game and they will not fall into this trap." The attacks come after a series of bombings in Iraq on Friday, mostly aimed at Shia targets, which killed 50 and wounded 154 others. Friday's deadliest attack happened when a suicide car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque where a funeral was taking place, killing 38. Last week's attacks occurred at the end of a Shiite Muslim celebration marking the birthday of Imam Mohammed al-Mehdi, the last of 12 historic imams revered by Shiites. Pilgrims participating in such celebrations have been the target of similar attacks by Sunnis. The bombings sparked fears of sectarian violence and called into question the ability of Iraqi forces. The United States pulled back its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns on June 30, leaving security responsibilities to the Iraqis and remaining only in a training and advisory capacity. The U.S. military continues to conduct combat operations in areas outside cities and towns. Khalaf said the recent attacks are part of "an escalation of violence" over the past two months ahead of national elections in January. "The enemy of Iraq wants to bring down political progress in the country," he said.
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