I’m dismayed daily when I hear reports that one or two or more of US troops have been killed and some far larger number have been wounded. If we focus on this at all, we focus on the deaths, we may drop a tear when we see funeral processions in our communities or see in newspapers those mesmerizing color photos of families and friends grieving at church services or burial sites.
But what about all those tens of thousands of wounded? Out of sight; out of mind.
Until a Washington Post series of articles that has lifted the curtain – and ending up, so far, with the firing of the Secretary of the Army, Francis J. Harvey. (See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2007/02/21/LI2007022100671.html)
“I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, said yesterday. He was described by the New York Times as “grim-faced” as he said that. Well should he be.
The wounded who are outpatients at the crème de la crème of military medical care, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, are dumped into a moldy, rodent-infested building across the street from the main medical building – the one that the politicians and celebrities make sure to be photographed visiting – and are forced to jump through hoops – without arms and legs in some cases – to get adequate medical care. Washington Post reporters documented "mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses" as well as crumbling ceilings and floors. Even a Republican Congressman, Tom Davis of Virginia told the Post: "You could put all the wounded soldiers in the Ritz-Carlton, and it wouldn't fix the personnel management and recordkeeping problems that keep them languishing in outpatient limbo out there for months."
Too little too late, President Bush has said: “This is unacceptable to me. It is unacceptable to our country. And it’s not going to continue.”
Some say the military medical establishment has been overwhelmed because it did not expect so many troops to survive such serious injuries as are being seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just more proof of incompetence by the entire Bush regime in carrying out this so-called war on terrorism that is so very much helter-skelter.
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2 comments:
Now that the SEC ARMY has been fired, plus at least one general, you should give them a chance to sort things out. Looks like the DoD is on track to fix things. And if not- they can fire some more generals.
My thoughts, exactly. We should not think that everything's fixed by firing the SEC ARMY and painting rooms in Building 18. The system needs to be overhauled to assure that our troops are treated with the honor and respect and medical care that they deserve.
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