Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday marked the inauguration of a president whom some KU veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan see as a critical component in framing the future of the Middle East.
Experiences in the region brought different concerns for the veterans, but they agreed that Obama’s selection of retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones as his National Security Adviser greatly increased the president’s odds at achieving stability.
Felix Zacharias, Wichita junior and Marine Corps sergeant, said having the retired general behind the president gave him confidence the right decisions were being made on the behalf of the soldiers.
Gates Brown, Lansing graduate student, is studying U.S. military history and U.S. history. Brown, a captain in the U.S. Army, suffered a shattered leg when an improvised explosive device detonated under his Humvee. Brown plans to teach military history to Army cadets after completing his degree.
Though former National Security Advisers Condoleeza Rice and Stephen Hadley had plenty of experience dealing with the diplomatic parts of foreign policy issues, Zacharias said having actual military experience in combat would enable Gen. Jones to make better decisions concerning the welfare of troops and to limit casualties on the ground.
“I trust Gen. Jones and how he thinks,” Zacharias said. “He understands how it feels to fight and how it feels to get hurt and how it feels to be in combat.”
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Barack Obama’s Plan for Iraq
— Invest more in collecting information and establishing a Shared Security Partnership, investing $5 billion over three years to help foreign intelligence and law enforcement agencies vanquish al-Qaida and its affiliates
— Increase military capabilities by supplementing counterinsurgency education and adding 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines to the active duty military
— Double U.S. spending on international cooperation and development programs to $50 billion per year by 2012 to prevent weak countries from becoming safe havens for insurgent groups
— Create Mobile Development Teams that use personnel from the military, the Pentagon, the State Department and USAID in order to integrate government efforts in counterterrorism and post-conflict operations
— Phase out combat brigades during a period of 16 months
— Expand services to Iraqi refugees in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis
Source: www.barackobama.com Homeland Security Fact Sheet
Gen. Jones served 40 years in the Marines, including operations in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the Balkans before finishing his career as the commander of NATO.
Dan Parker, McPherson senior and former Marine, said Gen. Jones’ experience with NATO would play a key role in repairing bonds with European countries.
Obama’s other cabinet picks, Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and Robert Gates as secretary of defense, also bolstered the confidence of Army Capt. Gates Brown, Lansing graduate student. Brown served in Iraq during the second half of 2006, until an explosion destroyed his Humvee and shattered his right leg in January 2007.
But while Iraq and its stability have been the focus of media clamor surrounding the President’s future foreign policy, both Brown and Parker agreed that Afghanistan should be the primary issue on the President’s foreign policy plate.
“Afghanistan is where the violence started,” Parker said, “Right now there is a lot more potential for things to go wrong there than in Iraq.”
But on the home front, one concern of Army veteran William Stewart, Los Angeles senior, is the allocation of defense funds through the next four years.
“I think we are wasting money that could be useful elsewhere,” Stewart said. “I think the money we’re paying to private contractors should come back home for veterans’ programs.”
Stewart, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, works to help veterans achieve success outside the military and educate others on the policies that directed military action. Stewart said he wanted to see more veterans getting the help they needed after returning home, especially with readjusting to life back home and coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Although there may be a gap in the amount of returning soldiers who need help and the amount that actually receive it, Parker said shortfalls for veterans programs weren’t in funding but in access.
The Department of Veterans Affairs “doesn’t have the means to really put the word out there about what’s available,” Parker said.
In terms of marketing, Parker said reaching the proper audience would take a countless amount of funds because of the diversity in age range and physical demographics of veterans.
KU veterans said they were confident in the next administration as long as Obama listened to his advisers and acted in the best interests of the men and women of the military and the people at home who relied on their service.
— — Edited by Chris Horn
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