ABBOT LABS TO PAY $1.5 BILLION IN OFF-LABEL PROMOTIONS SETTLEMENT

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, May 7, 2012
Abbott Labs to Pay $1.5 Billion to Resolve Criminal & Civil Investigations of Off-label Promotion of DepakoteCompany Maintained Specialized Sales Force to Market Drug for Off Label Purposes; Targeted Elderly Dementia Patients in Nursing Homes

Global Health Care Company Abbott Laboratories Inc. has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today.  The resolution – the second largest payment by a drug company – includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $800 million.  Abbott also will be subject to court-supervised probation and reporting obligations for Abbott’s CEO and Board of Directors.

“Today’s settlement shows further evidence of our deep commitment to public health and our determination to hold accountable those who commit fraud,” said James M. Cole, Deputy Attorney General.  “We are resolute in stopping this type of activity and today’s settlement sends a strong message to other companies.”

The FDA is responsible for approving drugs as safe and effective for specified uses. Under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), a company in its application to the FDA must specify each intended use of a drug.  A company’s promotional activities must be limited to only the intended uses that FDA approved.   In fact, promotion by the manufacturer for other uses – known as “off-label” uses – renders the product misbranded.

Abbott has pleaded guilty to misbranding Depakote by promoting the drug to control agitation and aggression in elderly dementia patients and to treat schizophrenia when neither of these uses was FDA approved.   In an agreed statement of facts filed in the criminal action, Abbott admits that from 1998 through 2006, the company maintained a specialized sales force trained to market Depakote in nursing homes for the control of agitation and aggression in elderly dementia patients, despite the absence of credible scientific evidence that Depakote was safe and effective for that use.   In addition, from 2001 through 2006, the company marketed Depakote in combination with atypical antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia, even after its clinical trials failed to demonstrate that adding Depakote was any more effective than an atypical antipsychotic alone for that use.
         
Illegal Promotion of Depakote to Control Agitation and Aggression in Dementia Patients
       The FDA approved Depakote for only three uses: epileptic seizures, bipolar mania and the prevention of migraines.  The FDA never approved the drug as safe and effective for the off-label use of controlling behavioral disturbances in dementia patients.  In 1999, Abbott was forced to discontinue a clinical trial of Depakote in the treatment of dementia due to an increased incidence of adverse events, including somnolence, dehydration and anorexia experienced by the elderly study participants administered Depakote.
Abbott trained its sales force to promote Depakote to health care providers and employees of nursing homes as advantageous over antipsychotic drugs for controlling agitation and aggression in elderly dementia patients because Depakote was not subject to certain provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA) and its implementing regulations designed to prevent the use of unnecessary medications in nursing homes.   Exploiting the fact that certain OBRA provisions did not yet apply to Depakote, Abbott sales representatives stated that by using Depakote, nursing homes could avoid the administrative burdens and costs of complying with OBRA.

Abbott’s off-label promotion of Depakote was multifaceted.   The company entered into contracts that provided long-term care pharmacy providers with payments of rebates based on increases in the use of Depakote in nursing homes serviced by the providers.   In addition to using its sales force to promote the drug to health care providers and employees of nursing homes, Abbott created programs and materials to train the pharmacy providers’ consultant pharmacists about the off-label use of Depakote to encourage them to recommend the drug for this unapproved use.   Under these contracts, Abbott paid millions of dollars in rebates to the pharmacy providers.

 “Not only did Abbott engage in off-label promotion, but it targeted elderly dementia patients and downplayed the risks apparent from its own clinical studies,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West.  “As this criminal and civil resolution demonstrates, those who put profits ahead of patients will pay a hefty price.”

Illegal Off-Label Promotion of Depakote for Schizophrenia
In the agreed statement of facts, Abbott also admitted that from 2001 through 2006, the Company misbranded Depakote by marketing the drug to treat schizophrenia.  Abbott funded two studies of the use of Depakote to treat schizophrenia, and both failed to meet the main goals established for the study.  When the second study failed to show a statistically significant treatment difference between antipsychotic drugs used in combination with Depakote and antipsychotic drugs alone, Abbott waited nearly two years to notify its own sales force about the study results and another two years to publish those results.  During this time, Abbott continued to promote Depakote off-label to treat schizophrenia.

 “ Today’s settlement demonstrates our continued scrutiny of the sales and marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies that put profits ahead of patient health,” said U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D.  “The FDA will continue its due diligence and hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for marketing practices that undermine the drug approval process.”

Criminal Plea
Today’s global resolution has criminal, civil and administrative components.   First, Abbott has pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor for misbranding Depakote in violation of the FDCA.  Under the plea agreement, Abbott will pay a criminal fine of $500 million, forfeit assets of $198.5 million, and submit to a term of probation for five years.   In addition, Abbott will also pay $1.5 million to the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.   As a condition of probation, Abbott will report any probable FDCA violations to the probation office, its CEO will certify compliance with this reporting requirement, and its board will report annually on the effectiveness of the company’s compliance program.   In addition, Abbott agrees that during the term of probation, the company will not compensate sales representatives for off-label sales, will ensure that continuing medical education grant-making decisions are not controlled by sales and marketing, will require that letters communicating medical information to healthcare providers be accurate and unbiased, and will have policies designed to ensure that clinical trials are approved by the company’s medical or scientific organizations and published in a consistent and transparent manner.   Abbott’s guilty plea and sentence are not final until accepted by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

“As the agreed statement of facts filed in court today demonstrates, Abbott promoted Depakote to control behaviors in elderly dementia and schizophrenia patients without significant evidence of its effectiveness for that use, and even after clinical data established that it was not effective,” said Timothy Heaphy, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.   “The resolution announced today includes a self-policing mechanism by which Abbott’s board of directors will monitor compliance with the law and report any violations, as well as a period of probation and court supervision.   We credit Abbott’s acceptance of responsibility and encourage other pharmaceutical companies to impose the similar mechanisms to prevent off-label marketing, which damages health care consumers.”

Civil Settlement 
Under the civil settlement, Abbott has agreed to pay $800 million to the federal government ($560,851,357) and the states ($239,148,643) that opt to participate in the agreement to resolve claims that its unlawful marketing and illegal remuneration practices caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.

The civil settlement addresses broader allegations by the United States that from 1998 through 2008, Abbott unlawfully promoted Depakote for unapproved uses, including behavioral disturbances in dementia patients, psychiatric conditions in children and adolescents, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, conduct disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and drug withdrawal, attention deficit disorder and autism.   .  Some of these unapproved uses were not medically accepted indications for which the United States and state Medicaid programs provided coverage for Depakote.  The United States contends that this promotion included, in part, making false and misleading statements about the safety, efficacy, dosing and cost-effectiveness of Depakote for some of these unapproved uses, and claiming use of Depakote to control behavioral disturbances in dementia patients would help nursing homes avoid the administrative burdens and costs of complying with OBRA regulatory restrictions applicable to antipsychotics.

The civil settlement also covers allegations that Abbott offered and paid illegal remuneration to health care professionals and long term care pharmacy providers to induce them to promote and/or prescribe Depakote and to improperly and unduly influence the content of company sponsored Continuing Medical Education programs, in violation of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.   The claims settled by the civil agreement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability, except to the extent that Abbott has admitted facts in the civil settlement agreement or in the criminal plea and agreed statement of facts filed in the criminal action.

The civil settlement resolves four lawsuits pending in federal court in the Western District of Virginia under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens to bring civil actions on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. As part of today’s resolution, the whistleblowers will receive $84 million from the federal share of the settlement amount.

Corporate Integrity Agreement

In addition to the criminal and civil resolutions, Abbott has also executed a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).   The five-year CIA requires, among other things, that Abbott's board of directors review the effectiveness of the company's compliance program, that high-level executives certify to compliance, that Abbott maintain standardized risk assessment and mitigation processes, and that the company post on its website information about payments to doctors.   Abbott is subject to exclusion from federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for a material breach of the CIA and subject to monetary penalties for less significant breaches.

 “As a result of OIG’s joint investigation with our federal and state partners, Abbott Laboratories will enter one of the pharmaceutical industry’s largest settlements and pay $1.5 billion for unlawfully promoting its drug Depakote, including to nursing home patients with dementia,” said HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson.  “Our integrity agreement will hold Abbott accountable for preventing future violations of federal health care laws and FDA requirements, which will protect federal programs, taxpayers and our most vulnerable patients.”

A Multilateral Effort 
The criminal case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.   The civil settlement was reached by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch.   Assistance w as provided by representatives of the HHS Office of Counsel to the Inspector General; the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the General Counsel, CMS Division; FDA’s Office of Chief Counsel; and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

 “Crimes involving the misbranding of drugs for financial gain will not be tolerated,” stated Richard Weber, Chief IRS Criminal Investigation.  “The special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation will use all their investigative tools, including the use of asset forfeiture statutes, to combat financial crimes and hold corporations accountable for their actions.”

This matter was investigated by the Virginia Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the FDA - Office of Criminal Investigation; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General; the West Virginia State Police; the Office of Personnel Management - Office of Inspector General; the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Office of Inspector General; the Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General; and TRICARE Program Integrity.

This resolution is part of the government's emphasis on combating health care fraud and another step for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by Attorney General Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act, which the Justice Department has used to recover more than $7.4 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.  With the settlement announced today, the Justice Department's total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 will exceed $10.2 billion.   During this same time, the department has secured $3.9 billion in criminal fines, forfeiture, disgorgement, and restitution relating to violations of the FDCA.

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY AND CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTER HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE AT THE PENTAGON

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta conducts a joint news conference with Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie at the Pentagon, May 7, 2012. DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Panetta: U.S.-China Relationship One of World's Most Critical
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta welcomed Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie to the Pentagon today as part of the first U.S. visit by a Chinese defense minister in nine years.

Liang's visit occurs at a time when the armed forces of both nations seek to expand cooperation, improve understanding, build trust and reduce differences.
"The United States and China are both Pacific powers, and our relationship is one of the most critical in the world," Panetta said at a news conference with Liang after their meeting.

"In my meeting with General Liang, I expressed my commitment to achieving and maintaining a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous [military-to-military] relationship with China," the secretary said, adding that at Liang's invitation he will visit China within the next few months.

"We share many interests across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond," Panetta added, "from humanitarian assistance to concerns about weapons of mass destruction to terrorism to drug interdictions to trade to counterpiracy."

The nations have worked together in several areas, the secretary said, and expect to expand cooperation in areas such as peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and counterpiracy.

"As you all know," Panetta said, "the U.S. Department of Defense recently released a new defense strategy, recognizing that no region is more important than the Asia-Pacific for our country's future peace and prosperity."

Liang spoke through an interpreter, describing the purpose of his visit as being "to implement the important agreement reached by President Hu Jintao and President [Barack] Obama on developing the China-U.S. state-to-state and military-to-military relationship."

As part of that agreement, the general said, both nations' militaries will continue to take advantage of ongoing defense consultative talks, defense policy coordination talks, the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement and the defense telephone link between Washington and Beijing.

Both sides, he added, acknowledge that cooperation in security areas in the Asia-Pacific region serves each other's fundamental interests, and that both agree to conduct joint exercises on disaster recovery and counterpiracy operations this year.
"At present, China-U.S. bilateral relationship is on a new starting line in history," Liang said, "to build a new kind of military relationship based on equality, cooperation and mutual benefit."

On his tour of U.S. defense facilities, Liang visited Naval Base San Diego in California over the weekend. After he leaves Washington, he will travel to Miami to visit the U.S. Southern Command and its commander, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser.

There, Southcom officials will highlight opportunities for practical cooperation in areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and expand the conversation on nontraditional security cooperation efforts such as counternarcotics, an important part of Southcom's mission.
May 9, Liang will visit Camp Lejeune, N.C., for meetings and interaction with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force and a chance to interact with some of the senior Marine Corps noncommissioned officers.

He also will visit Fort Benning, Ga., Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to have lunch with cadets.

At today's news conference, Panetta described several ways in which the United States and China have already worked together and will expand -- including peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and counterpiracy.

"On counterpiracy," he said, "China has ably conducted maritime operations in the Gulf of Aden for more than three years, and these operations have helped to secure the free flow of commerce in vital sea lanes from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean."

Thanking Liang for those efforts, the secretary said that later this year U.S. and Chinese ships will conduct a combined counterpiracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden.

Panetta said he also conveyed his appreciation to Liang for China co-chairing a group dedicated to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

On regional security challenges, the two leaders discussed North Korea and other areas of mutual interest, Panetta said, "areas that require our continued cooperation and dialogue." They also spoke about maritime areas, cyberspace, nuclear proliferation and missile defense, the secretary said.

The goal is to enhance cooperation throughout the region and with China to promote peace and stability there, Panetta said.

"We recognize that the United States and China will not always agree on every issue," he added, "but we believe our military-to-military dialogue is critical to ensuring that we avoid dangerous misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to crisis.

"A positive, cooperative, comprehensive United States-China relationship is absolutely essential to achieving a secure Asia-Pacific region," he continued, "and a more secure future for both of our nations."

PENTAGON SPOKESMAN SAYS TALIBAN MOMENTUM THWARTED AND THRUST BACK

Photo:  U.S. Department of Defense
FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Taliban on Their Heels, Pentagon

Spokesman Says

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2012 - Coalition and Afghan forces have reversed the Taliban's momentum and will continue to build on that success, a senior Pentagon spokesman said today.

"The Taliban's momentum has not only been thwarted, it's been thrust back," Navy Capt. John Kirby told reporters. "We believe they are in a much weaker position."

In December 2009, President Barack Obama announced a surge of 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. These forces, deployed mostly in the south, took the fight to the Taliban and their terrorist allies.

Training for Afghan forces proceeded apace, and the number of forces will reach 352,000 later this summer. Even with the withdrawal of 10,000 American troops in December 2011 and another 23,000 by the end of September 2012, more forces are facing the Taliban threat.

"The Taliban [are] in a much weaker position as we head into this spring than they were as little as a year ago," Kirby said.

U.S., coalition and Afghan forces were very active during the winter months – when the Taliban typically go underground – and this has paid off as the fighting season proceeds.

Even high-profile Taliban attacks are not reversing the tide against the organization, Kirby said. "Just take a look at the high-profile attacks, or the attempted attacks, that they've tried in the last month," he said, noting "a lot of ballyhoo" over a coordinated attack in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul on April 15.

"It was over by the next morning," he said. Another attempted attack in the hours after Obama's visit to Afghanistan last week was "completely ineffective," he added.

U.S. officials believe the Taliban are on their heels. "It is much more difficult for them to move around, to resource, to plan and execute," Kirby said, though he added it's too early to count the Taliban out.

"They are still a resilient, determined enemy," he said. "We understand that. But we really do believe that we have wrested the momentum from the Taliban."

OFF THE COAST OF CAMBODIA, USS BLUE RIDGE IS ON PATROL

FROM:  U.S. NAVY
he U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) anchors off the coast of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Blue Ridge is on patrol in the Asia-Pacific and in Sihanoukville for a port visit. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Sarah A. Stancati (Released) 

ATTITUDES TOWARD DRINKING CHANGE OVER TIME

FROM:  HHS HealthBeat (May 3, 2012)
The Peter Pan drinker
Getting really drunk at college age is bad for you, but some college-agers think it’s normal. Continuing to get really drunk when you’re older, though, seems to be different.

At the University of Missouri, Rachel Winograd looked at interview data on more than 400 people. She found heavy drinkers at age 25 didn’t feel immature. But at 29 and at 35, attitudes changed:

“By age 29 or 30, when most of your peers have settled down and you’re still drinking heavily, you may start to view yourself as a sort of Peter Pan of partying, who never fully matured.”

Winograd says cutting back on drinking might make the person feel more mature.
The study in the Journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Teacher Appreciation Week Gets Underway

Teacher Appreciation Week Gets Underway

THREE NAMES ADDED TO EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE DISPOSAL MEMORIAL

FROM:  U.S. NAVY
Lt. Cmdr. Rudy Schoen and Command Master Chief Stacey McClain salute the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Memorial wall after unveiling the addition of three shipmates' names at the EOD 43rd Annual Memorial Service at the Kauffman EOD Training Complex.
The names of eighteen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines were added to the EOD Memorial at Eglin Air Force Base, bringing the total to 287 names of service members who have sacrificed all in the name of honor to country and service. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor (Released)

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN OPERATIONS

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Afghan-led Security Force Detains Taliban Leader

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2012 - In operations around Afghanistan yesterday:

An Afghan-led security force supported by coalition troops detained a Taliban leader in Kandahar province's Arghistan district yesterday, military officials reported. The leader conducted roadside bombings against Afghan and coalition troops in Kandahar City and was responsible for moving explosive devices into the city from Zabul province, officials said.

He also was suspected of trying to infiltrate the Afghan National Police. The security force detained several additional suspects and seized weapons during the operation.

In May 5 operations in Afghanistan:

-- A combined Afghan and coalition security force in Uruzgan province's Tarin Kot district found small-arms ammunition, two hand grenades, a rocket-propelled grenade, five 82 mm recoilless rifle rounds, eight roadside-bomb detonators, nine anti-tank mines and a heavy weapons mount.

-- Insurgents attacked an Afghan and coalition security force conducting an operation to capture a Taliban leader in Faryab province's Almar district. The Taliban leader organizes roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and serves as a Taliban judge who tries to impose Taliban law on the civilians. The security force returned fire, and after ensuring no civilians were in the area, called in a precision air strike. A follow-on assessment determined that five insurgents were killed and no civilians were harmed. The security force detained several insurgents and recovered assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, a heavy machine gun and bomb components.

-- In Baghlan province's Baghlan-e Jadid district, an Afghan-led security force captured a Taliban leader who coordinated roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces. He also supplied weapons, ammunition and equipment to insurgents. The security force also seized weapons and ammunition.

--
A combined Afghan and coalition security force in Nimroz province's Khash Rod district found and destroyed 185 pounds of wet opium.

-- In the same district, an Afghan and coalition security force captured a senior Taliban leader who was directly involved in the planning and coordination of roadside bombings, suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces in central Helmand province.

-- In Kandahar province's Shah Wali Kot district, insurgents attacked an Afghan and coalition security force conducting an operation to capture a Taliban facilitator who provides weapons to insurgents for attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces in Daman and Arghistan districts. The security force returned fire and called in a precision air strike that killed three insurgents, detained another insurgent and seized weapons.

--
In Ghazni province's Andar district, an Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader who coordinated roadside bombings, suicide attacks and other operations against Afghan officials, Afghan security forces and coalition troops. The security force also detained four other insurgents.

-- An Afghan and coalition security force detained two suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader in Paktia province's Zurmat district. The leader organizes roadside bombings, suicide attacks and other operations against Afghan and coalition security forces.

In May 4 operations:

-- Two Taliban commanders and three other insurgents were killed by a coalition airstrike after a battle with a combined Afghan and coalition security force in the Almar district of Afghanistan's Faryab province. The senior Taliban commander planned and organized roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the province and distributed funds to the Taliban district commanders. The subordinate commander responsible for carrying out attacks was a Taliban judge who tried to impose Taliban law and punishment on civilians in Faryab province. The security force detained several other suspected insurgents and also recovered weapons and bomb components.

-- A team of armed insurgents moved to attack a combined Afghan and coalition security force on patrol in Helmand province's Nahr-e Seraj district. The force engaged the insurgents, killing several. A search of the compound found bomb components, homemade explosives and several small-arms weapons.

-- A combined Afghan and coalition security force in Wardak Sayyidabad district saw a Taliban commander providing weapons and ammunition to insurgents. He was known to be involved in recruiting insurgents, acquiring weapons and explosives, and planning attacks throughout the region. After ensuring no civilians were nearby, the security force called for an airstrike that killed the Taliban leader and several other insurgents. The security force detained several insurgents and seized a recoilless rifle, a heavy machine gun, assault rifles, grenades and mortar rounds.

LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL'S VIEWS ON AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  CONGRESSMAN  RON PAUL Enduring Commitments Abroad

Last week President Obama made a surprise pre-dawn trip to Afghanistan to mark the one year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden and to sign a document further extending the US presence in that country. The president said, "we're building an enduring partnership...As you stand up, you will not stand alone." What that means in practice is that the US will continue its efforts to prop up the government in Afghanistan for another ten years beyond the promised withdrawal date of 2014. To those of us who believe the US should leave Afghanistan immediately, the president retorted, "We must give Afghanistan the opportunity to stabilize." But how long will that take, when we have already fought the longest war in our nation's history at incredible human and economic cost to the nation and no end is in sight? There is little evidence of any sustained increase in stability in Afghanistan and, in fact, April saw the loss of 34 more American troops and an escalation of violence and upheaval. Within 90 minutes of the president's departure, seven more people were killed in Kabul by a suicide bomber. It is clear that our presence in that country is not creating any real stability. With Osama bin Laden dead and the al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan virtually non-existent, we are reduced to nation-building in a nation where there is no real nation to build. We should ask ourselves why Obama's trip was a "surprise" visit rather than a normal state visit. The reason is that after ten years it is still far too dangerous to travel in or out of that country. Does that not speak much more loudly than the president's optimistic words about the amazing progress we have made in Afghanistan? What does our enduring commitment mean? Ask the South Koreans, where the United States has maintained an "enduring commitment" of US troops more than fifty years after hostilities ended. By some estimates the United States taxpayer is saddled with a 40 billion dollar annual price tag for our "enduring commitment" to maintaining a US military presence in Korea. Polls suggest that particularly younger Koreans are tired of the US military presence in their country and would prefer us to leave. The same is true for the residents of Okinawa, who have argued strongly and with some recent success for American troops to leave their island. The Soviets believed the road to their goal for a universal form of government ran through Afghanistan. They were also wrong and paid an enormous price. However, after nine years and 15,000 Soviet lives lost, the communist regime in Moscow realized its mistake and withdrew from that country. The Soviet withdrawal was complete in early 1989. The Soviet Union by that time had further plunged into economic crisis, fueled in great part by its commitment to maintain a global empire of client states. Later that year, the Soviet world began crashing down, with first the collapse of Eastern European regimes and then the Soviet Union itself. That collapse produced an economic calamity for the successor states from which most have not yet fully recovered. It is not too late for the United States to learn what the Soviets discovered too late, back in 1989. Mr. President: the time to leave Afghanistan is today, not in 2024.

EUROPE IS VITAL TO SECURITY

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Stavridis: Europe Remains Vital to Current, Future Security
A Navy EA-18G Growler takes off from Aviano Air Base, Italy, in support of the initial phase of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, the mission to protect Libyan civilians under threat of attack by Gadhafi regime forces, March 20, 2011. U.S. European Command officials call the mission a demonstration of NATO's effectiveness. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nadine Y. Barclay

By Donna Miles
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2012 - U.S. European Command, along with NATO allies and other close partnerships in Europe, remains critical to the United States, even as it implements new defense strategic guidance focused on challenges in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, the Eucom and NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, said.
"Let's face it: our most enduring pool of partners exists in the European theater," Stavridis said during a recent interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.

He noted the strength of the 28-member NATO alliance, a 3 million-strong force with 24,000 aircraft and 800 ships. In addition, the allies have a $31 trillion collective gross national product, about $300 billion of which is devoted to defense budgets.
"This is an alliance of enormous resources, and it represents those that stand with us today in Afghanistan, in the Balkans, in the Libya operation and in [counterpiracy]," Stavridis said. "So these strategic, enduring partnerships in Europe are going to underpin the strategic focus on the challenges in Asia and in the Middle East."

That demands even more focus on Europe and NATO, explained Navy Rear Adm. Mark C. Montgomery, Eucom's deputy director for plans, policy and strategy. To address that risk elsewhere on the globe, he said, "we need to actually redouble our efforts to maintain our partners' capability and capacity."

Navy Vice Adm. Charles W. Martoglio, Stavridis' former chief of staff and now deputy commander, called the U.S. military "the glue that enables NATO to operate at the high level of efficiency that it does."

The U.S. military presence in Europe offers assurance to allies while helping them maintain the stability and economic foundation that helps create security, he explained. "So it is a win on the U.S. side, and it is a win on the European side," he said.

But beyond the U.S. commitment to the NATO alliance, Stavridis noted Europe's strategic geographic position. Forces easily can pivot from Europe into the Middle East, the Levant area at the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeastern Africa, the Mediterranean as during the Libya operations, and down into Africa, he said.
The alliance also is postured to address security challenges, such as violent extremist organizations, directly on the European continent. "While [terrorists] have been active in Europe and there have been acts of terrorism in Europe over the last 10 years, Europe has been used primarily as a recruiting and financial center for terror activities," Martoglio said. "But that can change quickly, should it ever get into the interests of violent extremist organizations to carry out large-scale attacks in Europe."

Ultimately, Martoglio said, Eucom's forward presence makes the United States more secure. "We are a nation that has an expeditionary capability. We fight our wars overseas so we don't fight them on our own shores," he said. "And Europe and our European partners are huge enablers of that expeditionary military capability."

Stavridis said maintaining U.S. forces in Europe enhances their ability to build that capability in partnership with NATO allies and other coalition partners.

"Being in Europe gives us the opportunity to train, exercise and work every day with this combat-ready force that has fought with us in Afghanistan, the Balkans, in [counterpiracy] and other missions," he said. "So there are a lot of good reasons for us to be engaged and 'home-ported,' as we would say in the Navy, in Europe."

The new force posture in Europe, with a 15-percent troop reduction to be offset partially with increased ship, aircraft and special operations capabilities, ensures the proper force number and configuration to support the new strategy guidance, he said.

As it is implemented, Stavridis offered assurance that forces assigned to Eucom will stay actively engaged in vital real-world missions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
"We will continue to have an important and enduring mission in the European theater for many years to come," he said.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER AT DETROIT NAACP CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Detroit NAACP Centennial Celebration 57th Annual Fight for Freedom DinnerDetroit ~ Sunday, May 6, 2012
Thank you, Reverend Anthony, for those kind words – and thank you all for the opportunity to take part in this momentous celebration.   It’s a pleasure to join Mayor Bing, along with Detroit’s hardworking Congressional delegation – Senator Levin, Senator Stabenow, Congressman Conyers, and Congressman Clarke – in marking the centennial of the largest – and one of the most accomplished – NAACP branches in the country.

I’d like to thank this branch’s leadership and membership – as well as tonight’s General Chairs and Co-Chairs – for all they’ve done to bring us together tonight.   And I’d particularly like to congratulate this year’s award recipients – Rhonda Walker, Nabih Ayad, Rachel Maddow, Maureen Taylor, and Reverend Dr. Julius Hope – on this prestigious, and well-deserved, recognition.

It’s a privilege to be back in the Motor City – and to bring greetings from President Obama.   This is an historic evening – an occasion to take pride in the legacy of achievement that has come to define and distinguish the work of the NAACP and, in particular, of its Detroit Branch.   But it’s also an important opportunity to take stock of what’s left to do – and to consider the challenges that lie before us.   So, as we come together to celebrate the power of individual voices, and the collective action – and nationwide progress – that a single person can help to inspire – let us also reflect on the responsibilities that each one of us shares – responsibilities to ourselves and each other, to our children, and to our predecessors – whose examples of courage – and commitment to collaboration – continue to show us the way forward.

Just over a century ago – at a time when segregation was the law of the land, and too many communities across our nation were gripped by fear and shattered by violence – a group of visionaries came together – driven by concern and frustration – to put forward a dream of hope for their own communities – and for all of their fellow citizens.

Since then, the NAACP has stood on the front lines of our nation’s fight to ensure security, opportunity, and justice – and equal treatment.   In a direct sense, this organization enabled many of the sweeping, transformative changes that shifted the course of the twentieth century – and paved the way for remarkable, once-unimaginable progress.   And since 1912 – when the Detroit Branch received its charter – there’s no question that this community has been at the center of these historic efforts.

When housing discrimination rocked the state of Michigan, it was the NAACP that stepped up and provided the funding to take this struggle to the court system – winning a major legal victory in 1925.

When the indignities of the unjust “separate but equal” doctrine could be tolerated no longer, it was the NAACP that shepherded a legal challenge all the way to the Supreme Court – and in 1954 helped secure the landmark Brown ruling.   That same year, the Detroit Branch obtained a decision in federal court that ended segregation in this city’s public housing system.

When pioneers like W.E.B. DuBois, Walter White, James Weldon Johnson, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers – and a young Montgomery preacher named Martin Luther King, Jr. – raised their voices, and even risked their lives, in pursuit of a more perfect union, each of them found a position of leadership – and a community of committed partners – in the NAACP.

And when a bright young woman named Vivian Malone – who would later become my sister-in-law – set her sights on a quality college education, but was barred from enrolling in her state’s university because of her race, she came to the NAACP for advice as she mounted a legal challenge.   And in 1963 – with the support of the courts; with the help of my predecessor, Attorney General Robert Kennedy; and with the eyes of the nation upon her – she stepped past Governor George Wallace to integrate the University of Alabama.

Long before I married her sister, Vivian became that University’s first African-American graduate.   For the rest of her life, she fought for equal opportunity as a member of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and as an activist with the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP.   Although she passed away several years ago – much too soon – her courage has inspired me since I was a young man, seeing the iconic news images of that infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” for the very first time.   And her example continues to guide me even today.

In fact, stories like Vivian’s – and landmark achievements like the ones this Branch has helped to bring about – were what drove me, as an aspiring attorney, to spend my first summer in law school working for the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund – where I had the chance to be part of a tradition of service that was established by legendary attorneys like Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, and later strengthened by brilliant, dedicated leaders like my good friend John Payton.   Not long after, I launched my career in public service at the Department of Justice.

Today, I am humbled to be a direct beneficiary of the progress that the NAACP has made possible over the years.   And I’m honored to serve in the Administration of President Barack Obama, another direct beneficiary of this work.

Yet, despite the significant, once-unimaginable advances that have marked the century since this group convened its first meetings – not far from where we gather tonight, at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church – the unfortunate fact is that, in 2012, our nation’s long struggle to overcome injustice, to eliminate disparities, to bridge long-standing divisions, and to eradicate violence has not yet ended.

On the contrary – this work remains as important – and as urgent – as ever before.

Of course, you already know this.   You know that, in far too many American cities, there are neighborhoods where too many kids go to prison and too few go to college; where the doors to education and opportunity seem to be firmly closed; and where, for many young people, funerals are more common than weddings.   There are school districts where suspensions are disproportionately likely to be imposed on black students, Hispanic students, poor students, and students with special needs – increasing the chances that they’ll be involved with the juvenile justice system.

Fortunately, on each of these fronts, the Detroit NAACP has responded not with despair, but with resolve.   You are carrying on – and continuing to strengthen – the tradition of advocacy and empowerment that has become your hallmark.   You’re calling forth – and bringing out – the very best in this city’s residents.   You’re fighting to safeguard civil rights, to ensure embattled voting rights, and to expand learning and employment opportunities in every community.   And you’re working – on the streets as well as in the courts – to strengthen our criminal justice system, to achieve fairness in our immigration and sentencing policies, and to prevent and combat violence and crime – especially among our young people.

This is an issue that has – rightly – garnered significant national attention in recent months – as our nation has struggled to make sense of the tragic shooting death of a Florida teenager named Trayvon Martin.   As this case moves through the legal system, Justice Department officials will continue to communicate closely with state and local authorities to ensure that community concerns are heard, tensions are alleviated, and – as with every investigation at every level – appropriate actions are guided by the facts and the law.

But – as we all know – the reality is that certain aspects of this case are far from unique.   And incidents of violence involving young people are anything but rare.

Nationwide, homicide is the leading cause of death for black men between the ages of 15 and 24.  More than 60 percent of all young people are exposed to violence at some point in their lives, either as victims or as witnesses.   And one report even showed that – here in Detroit – an average of two young black men are killed every week – a murder rate nearly seven times higher than the population at large.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that this is shocking.   It is unacceptable.   And it’s why the leadership of organizations like the NAACP – and the engagement of activists throughout Detroit and across the country – remains as vital as ever.

It’s also why, under the Obama Administration, the Justice Department has made an unprecedented commitment to protecting the safety – and potential – of our children.   For the first time in history, we are directing significant resources for the express purpose of addressing childhood exposure to violence, raising awareness of its ramifications, and advancing scientific inquiry on its causes and characteristics.   Through our landmark Defending Childhood Initiative, which I launched in 2010 – and our National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, which is implementing an action plan right here in Detroit – we’re developing strategies for reducing violence and countering its negative impact.   And in six cities – including this one – an innovative pilot initiative known as “Strong Cities, Strong Communities” is allowing local leaders to leverage federal, state, local, business, and non-profit partnerships in order to enhance cooperation on a host of community-based efforts – including violence prevention.

I believe there’s good reason for optimism about where this work will lead us – and the progress that this type of collaboration has made possible.   And I’m pleased to report that a similar spirit of partnership – and a robust, Department-wide commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us, confronting longstanding divisions, and overcoming persistent disparities – has infused the Administration’s endeavors on a range of critical areas.

Nowhere is this more clear than in the determined efforts of our Civil Rights Division.   As Attorney General, I have the great privilege – and the solemn duty – of enforcing many of the laws and reforms that the NAACP and other groups have fought, over the past century, to enact.  For the Department and our allies across the country, this work is among our highest priorities.  And I’m proud to say that our approach has never been more effective.

Over the past three years, the Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed more criminal civil rights cases than ever before, including record numbers of police misconduct, hate crimes, and human trafficking cases.   We’ve moved aggressively to combat continuing racial segregation in schools – and to eliminate discriminatory practices in our housing and lending markets.   We’ve taken decisive action to vigorously enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act – our nation’s most important civil rights statute – by challenging attempts to disenfranchise many of our fellow citizens.    And we’ve reinvigorated sweeping efforts to ensure that, in our workplaces and military bases; in our housing and lending markets; in our schools and places of worship; in our immigrant communities and our voting booths – the rights of all Americans are protected.

Across the Administration, we’re working in a range of other innovative ways to achieve fairness and expand opportunity – from successfully advocating for the reduction of the unfair and unjust 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses – to launching a new, Department-wide Diversity Management Initiative.   And our determination to build on these efforts has, quite simply, never been stronger.

Of course, I cannot pretend that the road ahead will be an easy one.   And I recognize – and have seen firsthand – that doing what’s right may not always be the same as doing what’s popular.

But I firmly believe that each of us has the power – and the responsibility – to take up the unfinished struggle for equal opportunity and justice.   To rise to this moment of possibility – and seize our chance to protect and empower those who need our help most.

After all – if, as they say, what’s past is prologue – tonight’s celebration of your first 100 years should inspire a great deal of confidence about where the NAACP’s Detroit Branch will lead us over the next 100.

And, as we look toward the future we seek – and, together, must build – know that my colleagues and I at every level of the Justice Department are privileged to count you as partners.   Know that I am hopeful about all that we can – and will – achieve together.   And finally, know that I am honored to stand with you – tonight and always – in living out the spirit that inspired the creation of the NAACP – and that must always drive our pursuit of a more inclusive, more just, and more perfect union.  The creation of that better America is within our grasp.   If we commit ourselves, if we work together, if we remember the sacrifices of those who envisioned a better world – not for them, but for us – there is nothing we cannot accomplish.   So let us leave tonight secure in the knowledge that our destiny – our nation's destiny – will be determined primarily by the resolve and the vigor that we bring to this endeavor.   I look forward to working with all of you.

Thank you.

USNS MERCY LEAVES SAN DIEGO HARBOR

FROM:   U.S. NAVY
The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) transits San Diego Harbor as the ship departs for Pacific Partnership 2012. Pacific Partnership is an annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic action exercise designed to work with and through host nations to build partnerships and a collective ability to respond to natural disasters. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eva-Marie Ramsaran (Released)