The new national security team: Poor huddled masses at the White House

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, April 29, 2011 - 11:37 AM

When Leon Panetta mentioned at yesterday's unveiling of the new national security team that he is "the son of immigrants," I couldn't help but notice that Petraeus (father a Dutch sea captain) and Obama are as well. A good sign of meritocracy in America.

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EXPLORE:MIGRATION/IMMIGRATION, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Tricare: Denying our troops the best rehab care for traumatic brain injuries?

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, January 28, 2011 - 11:24 AM

By Deborah A. Bradbard, Ph.D.
Best Defense clinical psychology department

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords' extraordinary progress has captivated the nation, and the exemplary medical care she has received this far leaves hope that she will recover from her injuries. Reportedly, she already has begun initial rehabilitation.

Descriptions suggest her care will include what is widely considered the gold standard in rehabilitation, Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT), which is considered the treatment of choice for traumatic brain injuries because it is comprehensive, individualized, multidisciplinary, and coordinated. The goals of CRT are to restore cognitive function to the extent possible, maximize functional adaptation to the injuries sustained, and to encourage compliance to recommended treatments. A large body of respectable scientific evidence exists to support CRT's effectiveness.

Here's the bad news: Thousands of military veterans who have sustained life altering traumatic brain injuries similar to Giffords' do not receive this coordinated, holistic, and individualized rehabilitative care because the military's insurance provider, Tricare, does not cover CRT for its beneficiaries (military personnel, veterans, and their families).

Read on

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Immigration: America's surprising enduring national security advantage

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - 11:29 AM

One of America's sources of long-term strength is its ability to assimilate foreign talent, argues former Pentagon planning official Thomas Mahnken in the new issue of Saisphere, an obscure in-house publication of the international affairs school at the Johns Hopkins University. "Such immigration could prove to be an enduring source of U.S. strategic advantage," he writes. "How effective the United States proves in assimilating these new immigrants into the life of the nation will play a major role in determining its strategic effectiveness. The United States' historical ability to assimilate has given it a distinct advantage over most other nations, which display little willingness to incorporate immigrants into the mainstream of their societies."

I really need do to get that bumper sticker printed up: "Immigrants: Keeping America strong for 400 years."

And boy, Arizona seems to be making a lot of trouble lately.

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Who thinks McChrystal should go?

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 9:40 AM

I've noticed an interesting pattern in my e-mails over the last 24 hours regarding the question of whether McChrystal should be fired. That is, the more someone knows about the military, the more likely they are to call for his removal. Political types, by contrast, don't see what the big deal is.

I have been particularly struck by a couple of hard-right types I know who are retired senior officers. For them, this is a matter of good order and discipline. If you allow a general to bitch-slap an uncertain president, how do you keep the troops in line?

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A salute to the skipper of the USS Lassen

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Monday, November 2, 2009 - 6:46 PM

Hung Ba Lee, a native of Hue, Vietnam, who left that country as a five-year-old refugee and was picked up at sea by a U.S. Navy ship, will return to it later this month as the commander of the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer.

Congratulations, and thanks, to Hung Ba Le and his family. What more can I say but:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Take that, Lou Dobbs.

Photo: U.S. Navy/Getty Images

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