Walter Reed Surprised Admin., but it Wasn't a Suprise (what a suprise!)

Everyone seemedso surprised when the Walter Reed scandal broke. Then Everyone saidthey will get to the bottom of the issue. Well it seems that Everyoneknew about the neglect of the soldiers in 2004 . The administration justbullshitted us again and simply neglected to prepare for the woundedsoldiers.

April 25, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- When the Walter Reed scandal exploded in themedia in February, bringing wide attention to inadequate care for veterans atthe Army's flagship hospital, Defense Department officials expressed shock andclaimed ignorance. Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant defense secretarywho oversees military medicine, declared at a press conference on Feb. 21:"This news caught me -- as it did many other people -- completely bysurprise."

But Salon has learned that the Defense Department had been conducting monthlyfocus group discussions with soldiers treated at Walter Reed since before thewars in Afghanistanand Iraq had evenbegun, and that it continued to do so as wounded veterans of those conflictsarrived at the facility. The interviews with outpatients were set up to monitorArmy healthcare and provide military officials with direct information about it.

"They were trying to find out the good and the bad and theugly," said a former Defense Department official familiar with the DoDfocus groups. "That is the good-news story. The bad-news story is they didnot do anything about it."

Until last week, the leaders of the Force Health Protection and Readinessoffice, which ran the interviews, reported to Winkenwerder. During his Feb. 21press conference, Winkenwerder suggested that money was not the source of theproblems at Walter Reed. "Let me just say, this is not a resourceissue," he told reporters. The next day, the White House announced thatWinkenwerder would be leaving his post. (His replacement, Dr. S. WardCasscells, a vice president of biotechnology at the University of Texas HealthScience Center, took over last week.)

Read the complete story at TheSalon.: "The Pentagon's Chronic Neglect of Iraq Vets"

So, if you don't agree with the war, you don't support the troops, but if yousupport the war you DO support the troops, just not the injured ones becausethey don't count? This would be a good question to ask the decider, because hecan straighten anything out!

 

 

Comments

[granny]

This one is just SO AWFUL, it's hard to conjure up the words. Criminal, seems to be the only one that fits.

And to see one guy who tells the truth (or even alludes to it!) after another, in this cesspool of an administration, get canned. What? What is up with this apparent unconsciousness?

Unconscientiousness. This, and the Katrina performance, and Enron are all, really, truly the litmus tests of the ethics of this crowd that has slimed its way into our governmental business.

The great father figure ideology: what's good for me is great for me, and no one else matters one jot or tittle (and go look it up if you don't know that phrase!)

Who is it that's supposed to keep this train on the tracks?

Why are we tolerating this?
How do we stop this train wreck?

I guess the truth is, it took a lot of focused work and time to get things in this condition and that's what it will take to reverse the tide.

So, great work, you guys! Great work!