The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released unemployment data for February today. The unemployment rate decreased slightly to 8.9 percent for the general population. Meanwhile, the rate for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans decreased to 12.5 percent, down from a staggering 15.2 percent in January. Nevertheless, in real numbers, 239,000 Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans were still unemployed in February.

Today’s newest veterans have faced rising unemployment rates for over two years and as the recession lingers, there is no relief in sight. In 2010, the average unemployment rate of Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans was a staggering 11.5 percent —nearly twice the 6.1 percent unemployment rate in 2007.

Despite a decrease, the OEF/OIF monthly unemployment rate for February is still one of the highest ever recorded since the BLS began tracking data for OEF/OIF veterans in 2006. This is troubling given the rate is still higher than the general population by 3.6 percent, and the winter weather—a contributor to last month’s record-high OEF/OIF unemployment rate—improved last month.

In the current economic environment, job creation is an important issue for all Americans, but especially for new veterans. Last week, President Obama challenged business and labor leaders on his newly formed President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness to create jobs. “The economy is now growing,” he said, but the unemployment rate “is still way too high all across the country.” The challenge to create jobs is explicit in the numbers released by the government today.

That’s why IAVA will be focused all year on creating jobs for OEF/OIF veterans. Our new 2011 Policy Agenda is a roadmap of specific proposals for the Administration, Congress, state and local governments, and the private and nonprofit sectors to address the main challenges faced by today’s veterans. Our priority is to secure jobs for our nation’s heroes. One way to do this is to incentivize the hiring of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans through tax credits and tax relief for employers and employees. Another is to connect veterans with corporate leaders and the non-profit sector.

Not only must we create jobs for new veterans, we must also protect the jobs of our citizen soldiers. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a U.S. Army reservist who claimed he was fired because of his civilian employer’s bias against his military service. This was the first Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployments Rights Act (USERRA) case heard by the Supreme Court since the law was enacted in 1994. The court ruling is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, this case is not isolated. There are currently approximately 89,044 reservists and guardsmen serving on active duty. Many have already expressed facing job discrimination from their civilian employers when they return home.

Until now, USERRA has not been well enforced, and it must be strengthened and expanded to provide real job protection. That means creating standard civil and criminal penalties for employers who violate USERRA. It also means preventing employers from firing an employee while a USERRA claim is being processed. Additionally, USERRA must be expanded to protect reservists and guardsmen who are also serving their country through domestic response operations such as Hurricane Katrina or the Gulf oil spill.

An Army soldier died early Sunday morning and his friend was arrested after a game of Russian roulette. At about 2 a.m. Anchorage police were called to an Eagle River home, where 26-year-old Matthew McCloskey had been shot in the abdomen.

McCloskey, originally from Beverly, New Jersey, was taken to Providence Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. He belonged to the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

McCloskey was at the home of his friend, 25-year-old Jacob Brouch, on the 11600 block of Dawn Street. Police say the weekend started with drinking, then turned to posing for photos with a revolver that belonged to Brouch, and ended with the deadly game.

According to APD, Brouch's wife and children were home at the time but no one else was injured.

“Detectives determined that the victim was holding the gun to his stomach when he fired his weapon, which had a round in his chamber, and resulted in his death,” said APD spokesperson Anita Shell. “It's a very, very, dangerous game, one that should never be played. Weapons are not to be pointed, and unfortunately he destroyed his own life by pulling the trigger.”

Brouch is charged with second-degree murder for knowingly providing the weapon which resulted in McCloskey's death. He is also charged with weapons misconduct.

Before the United States plunges into a third war in the Middle East, let us think this one through, as we did not the last two.

What would be the purpose of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya? According to advocates, to keep Moammar Gadhafi from using his air force to attack civilians.

But if Gadhafi uses tanks to crush the rebellion, as Nikita Khrushchev did in Hungary and the Chinese did in Tiananmen Square, would that be OK?

What is the moral distinction between using planes to kill rebels and running over them with tanks? Do we Americans just want to see a fair fight?

To establish a secure no-fly zone, we would have to bomb radar installations, anti-aircraft batteries, missile sites, and airfields, and destroy the Libyan air force on the ground, to keep the skies secure for U.S. pilots.

These would be acts of war against a nation that has not attacked us.

Where do we get the legal and moral right to do this? Has Congress, which alone has the power to declare war, authorized Barack Obama to attack Libya?

The president may respond to an attack on American territory or U.S. citizens, but Libya has not done that since Lockerbie, more than two decades ago.

Since that atrocity, George W. Bush and Condi Rice welcomed Gadhafi in from the cold, after he paid $10 million in blood money to the families of each of the Lockerbie victims.

What, then, is our present justification for attacking Libya?