Found: Missing Intelligence on Iran

This past Saturday morning I heard an interesting observation from a former CIA agent. Apparently, Mike Rogers - republican US Congressman from Michigan’s 8th District & member of an Intelligence Committee - recently reported that the US needs better intelligence on Iran nuclear programs. Does this overstate the obvious?

On Saturday morning I also heard from a former FBI Agent that Rogers had "no comment" on the outing of Valerie Plame and the implosion of Plame’s cover company Brewster Jennings & Associates . Why was he not upset? Wouldn’t you expect him to be angry?

After all, if Rogers is really looking for “better intelligence” on Iran, shouldn’t he be angered if someone(s) in the Bush White House “outed” Plame-Wilson as part of a personal vendetta on the road to Iraq, while simultaneously killing a valuable intelligence asset and putting all agents associated with Brewster Jennings at risk? Will we ever know if any died?

The CIA agent and the FBI agent are the same man. The man who shared this information is a Navy, FBI, and CIA veteran and CIA classmate of Valerie Plame. This man is running against Mike Rogers as the real Intelligence Candidate.

This man is Jim Marcinkowski . Isn’t it time for public servants who know how to serve the public?

QuestionItNow

Support Our Troops - Fund Traumatic Brain Injury Research

Upon returning from vacation this week I received yet another example of hypocrisy by those who claim to support our troops and wrap themselves in the flag.

"When a Marine in Fallujah barely escapes an RPG attack, or an IED explodes near a soldier's Humvee, the blast can cause the troop's brain to slam against in the inside of his skull. The result is Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, which can cause dizziness, problems with vision, hearing, or speech, memory loss, and even severe brain damage. At least 100,000 troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan have been affected by TBI.

So, how does Congress respond? By cutting in half the funding for the research and treatment center for TBI. ...

Veterans' care is not the place to cut corners. The Defense Authorization bills are spending about $400 billion of your money. But TBI research requires only an extra $7 million.

IAVA will continue this fight on the airwaves and in newspapers across the country. Join us in support of Troops suffering with Traumatic Brain Injury - click here to send a letter to your local paper today, to tell Congress to save funding for TBI research. Together, we can make a difference for wounded Veterans. Keep an eye on www.iava.org for the latest updates."

Sincerely,

Paul Rieckhoff
Executive Director
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
www.iava.org

Please take a moment of your time to send a pre-written letter from the IAVA to your local paper. This is one way all of us can truly support our troops.

QuestionItNow Blogs

"... the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs ..."

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war."

- Herbert Hoover
Speech at the Republican Party National Convention

Still In Iraq

"Nobody Comes Home From War Unchanged"

The quote in this title is from Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America. Following is an email I recently received from him.

"Dear Friend,

Have you ever wished there was a simple and effective way to introduce your friends to the work of IAVA? Now there is.

Earlier this month we released an eight minute short film about the work of IAVA, the challenges that lie ahead, and the ways that ordinary citizens can get involved with really supporting this new generation of troops and veterans.

The video is available at our website, http://www.iava.org/, and also through Google's online video service. It's easy to find, easy to watch, and easy to share with your friends and neighbors. There are no complicated downloads or giant email files - just a simple link to click and watch.

We're hoping to show the video to 100,000 people by the end of August, and you can help. All you have to do is forward this email. If each IAVA supporter sends this email to just two friends who watch the video, we will far exceed that goal.
Click here to watch the video, and feel free to send any comments to info@iava.org. Thanks for all your support.

Sincerely,

Paul Rieckhoff
Executive Director
IAVA
www.iava.org"

Regardless of your political affiliation or opinion of our involvement in Iraq you owe it to yourself and to American's military men and women to view the video linked in this title. This video helps summarize "The True Cost of War."

QuestionItNow - Still In Iraq