Austin, Texas Chapter

The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin-March 2006

Commander's Comments If the March winds blow in Texas, let them carry you to our next meeting. MOWW is honored to have as our speaker Brigadier General Bisson. He began his military career in 1967 and retired from the Army in 2005. Another informative and enjoyable evening will be had by all - see you there. Unfortunately, General Ware, our speaker for February was in an auto accident and was unable to be the evening speaker. He is on the mend and in physical therapy. Maybe he will be able to be our speaker in the future. COL McVeigh attended the MOWW National Convention in Washington, DC and indicated that the Texas chapters were well represented. The MOWW 8th Region Annual Conference will be in Oklahoma City on 19 & 20 May. Contact COL McVeigh for registration information. COL Holland and LTC Howard have consented to prepare a slate of new officers (Commander, Sr. Vice, Jr. Vice and Adjutant) to be presented to the member to vote upon at the April meeting. Please offer your assistance to COL Holland with our upcoming 2006 junior and senior ROTC award program. It is this Chapter's outreach venture, and each of us should give consideration to its support                          COL Charles Szendrey   Meeting. 9 March 2006   Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183) The cost for the evening is $18.00. If you are not called by 5 March., contact COL Szendrey (388-1005).

Schedule:  1830-1900-Social  1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes  1905-1945-Dinner  1945-2000-Break  2000-2015 - Awards & Festivities 2015-2045-Speaker  2045-2100-Adjourn  Menu Roasted Rosemary Chicken, Garden Vegetables & Rice Speaker Brig. Gen. James J. Bisson Chaplain's Selection God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing. - Rev. Billy Graham Quotes to Ponder "

Item of Interest  * By the end of 2006, 5.3 million VA patient medical records are expected to be available electronically. Computer technology allowed VA to do away with paper records in 1998. Another innovative VA practice permits a patient's vital health indicators to be sent electronically from a patient's file to private homes via a modem. Approximately 350,000 VA patients have this type of access to their records.  * Several drugs moved to the third co-payment tier of $22 for a 30 day supply at network retail pharmacies and $22 for a 90 day supply through the mail order pharmacy. Third tier drugs are not available at military treatment facility (MTF) pharmacies unless the prescription has been written by an MTF provider and medical necessity is established. The drugs moving to the third tier are: Alpha 1 Blockers (for prostate hypertrophy): Flomax ACE Inhibitor/Diuretic (for high blood pressure): Accuretic, Uniretic ACE Inhibitor (for high blood pressure): Aceon, Accupril, Quinapril, Altace, Univasc 90 Years A Go  In February 1916, one of the costliest and longest battles of WWI is joined. Determined to bleed the French army "white", the German army launches an attack on the French town of Verdun. A Gallic fortress before Roman times, the town proved critical in past wars with Prussia. The Germans aware of Verdun's history, expected an all-out stand by the French, the Germans are not disappointed. In July, with carnage mounting, the Germans begin to withdraw. By battle's end in December, there are some 400,000 casualties on each side.

Legislation * Congress left for recess before completing work on the fiscal year 2006 VA Appropriations. Each chamber has separately passed their respective versions, but there have been several complicating factors. First, the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate have realigned, so slightly different things are included in each of the bills, which will make coming up with a single version more difficult. Second, and more importantly, the administration has admitted that there is a significant shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as our current one. They need to add around $2 billion extra to make up for unexpected demand for health care services that they hadn't budgeted for. We need to make sure that Congress adds this money and that they pass the bill on time. Each of the last five years, VA has received its budget months late, each time forcing them to work with the previous year's outdated budget. Let Congress know that you expect better. Contact them today! * President Bush recently submitted a request to Congress for $72.4 billion in supplemental funding to tackle the global war on terror and other ongoing international activities for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends September 30. The largest amount in the request, $65.3 billion, funds the Defense Department's missions. The remaining $7.1 billion contains funding for the State Department, the intelligence community, and other government agencies. This supplemental is the sixth such stand-alone bill to fund the Global War on Terror since its start September 2001. War funding was also included as a part of the annual DoD Appropriations Acts. Total DoD funding for the war on terror so far has been $334.1 billion. News reports indicate that Congress will likely begin action on the request in about a month.

 

Viewpoint -  The Middle East's Real Bane: Corruption Democratization is a pillar of the administration's strategy. Democracy has progressed in the Greater Middle East. Afghans and Iraqis marched to the polls after decades without the right to vote. Palestinians and Egyptians, too, have held contested elections after years of stilted referendums and closed campaigns. Following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese banded together to advance democracy and reform. Progress is shaky, however, its permanence far from assured. While both Western and Arab media juxtapose bombings with democratization, the true threat to both political reform and stability in the Middle East is not terrorism, but corruption; and across the region, the problem is worsening. Take the case of the Iraqi Kurds. Long championed as a model of liberalization, they are becoming a regional embarrassment. Rather than "pursue democracy, the Iraqi Kurdish leadership is more consumed with self-enrichment. Following Iraq's defeat in 1991, the Kurds rose in rebellion against Saddam Hussein. The leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party returned to Iraqi Kurdistan with little but respect for his family name. Fourteen years later, his personal worth is estimated at close to $2 billion. Corruption and nepotism are rife. No foreign businessman can strike a deal in his region without entering into partnership with him or a favored relative.

Human rights workers in Irbil say they have met Kurds imprisoned for failing to pay kickbacks. Corruption has done almost as much to hobble Iraq's reconstruction as the insurgency. The former Defense Minister embezzled close to $500 million in six months. Such money could have been used to arm and protect Iraq's army and fight jihadists. Iraq is not unique. Visitors to Iran often hear students vent their frustration with professors who sell grades, doctors who extort money for treatment, and officials who use their government positions for personal enrichment. Palestinian ministers have also used their positions more for self-enrichment than development. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has little to show for billions of dollars in foreign aid. Critics of Israel can point to the bulldozed Gaza airport and complain about border closures, but it was not the Israeli government that built palatial mansions for Palestinian ministers or that wired PA President Yasser Arafat's wife Suha $22 million annually. The situation is little different in Cairo and Amman, where they build palaces rather than schools. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, residents pump sewage from tanks several days per week.