That seems to be the administration's motto. From the Washington Times: Fix Walter Reed TODAY'S EDITORIAL March 5, 2007 Poor treatment of injured Iraq veterans is finally getting the high-level attention it deserves. What was no secret among Iraq veterans and readers of this page is now an explosive political issue which on Friday cost Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey and Walter Reed Army Medical Center head Maj. Gen. George Weightman their jobs. This shouldn't play out according to the usual Washington scandal script. To do right by our soldiers, the whole system, not just Walter Reed, must be put on a better course. The good news is that the stars are aligned politically for President Bush and the Democratic Congress to do something about it. It's time to test everybody's favorite mantra of "I support the troops." For starters, this problem is much bigger than mushrooms and rats in shoddy Walter Reed dorms or paperwork irregularities. Last March, we called on the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs to greatly increase their joint efforts for injured and traumatized Iraq veterans, so that "at least one or two facilities offer all types of excellent care for veterans with multiple severe injuries." Do it. The timing is already too late for some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, but no moment could ever be more politically opportune. In the same editorial one year ago, we recounted the travails of the severely injured Army Sgt. Edward Wade, whose brain damage, arm loss and other serious injuries required that he and his wife Sarah travel up and down the East Coast dozens of times to tens of medical facilities, none of which could handle all his injuries at the same time. This needs to end. It wastes irreplaceable time in the most critical period on the road to recovery. The crux of the issue is that the Pentagon and Department of Defense simply were not prepared for the types of unprecedented serious injuries being sustained in Iraq. This is most tragically evident in the lack of facilities to handle all the kinds of injuries common to soldiers fighting in the Iraq war. After the battlefield, Walter Reed, Texas' Brook Army Medical Center and a handful of so-called "polytrauma" centers are the best chance for a seriously wounded veteran today to make strides toward recovery. The bipartisan commission the White House has promised should figure out what works at these centers and then expand it to the rest of the Veterans Affairs network. Inexplicably, Congress still shows few signs that it truly understands the problem. The remedies much discussed this week, courtesy of Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill and Barack Obama, are laughable if they are intended to solve the systemic problems. They are a bandaid on a gaping wound. The senators call for simplifying paperwork, hiring more caseworkers and improving their training, requiring more oversight from inspectors general, improved reporting to Congress, establishing facility-repair timelines and increasing psychological counseling. It pains us to cry cynical politics because these measures would be worthy and welcome, but they are too small-bore and reactive to make a significant difference. This is classic scandal legislation which makes the sponsor look good but does little to solve the issue. The politics of this issue point in only one direction -- serious attention from both the executive and legislative branches. If Mr. Bush and the Democratic Congress fail to attack the root systemic problems, they have only themselves to blame for failing our service members.
Consider this. Any illegal alien can just waltz into a top teaching hospital and demand to be treated for whatever ails him, and by law they have to do it. No matter how much it costs. Apparently that level of care is too expensive for the members of our military, who Bush and the other cynical pols fall all over themselves praising. When push comes to shove, they care more about illegal aliens than they do our own troops. I have a simple solution. Require that the President and members of congress forego the platinum level care they get for free at Bethesda Navy and get in line with enlisted men at Walter Reed. No special privileges, no special suites. What do you say Hillary?
Veterans have been receiving sub-par medial treatment for decades. Walter Reed is just the tip of the iceberg. The entire VA is rampant with incompetence and worse, indifference. I hope for a change that's something more than window dressing. I won't hold my breath.
You're right. It speaks volumes about our priorities that we can piss away billions but won't spend the money to treat those who gave their bodies for this country.
While you`re holding you`re breath awaiting politrickans to give a fuck you can help. www.fisherhouse.org I have pretty much given up on the politicians in this country. The system isn't broken....it is nonexistent. Hundreds of billions spent fighting a ghost of an enemy. The republicans dont care...and the democrats are impotent What a joke...
A capital idea, and while they are at it. Congress can give up their bloated pensions in exchange for the same social security the rest of us will (or won't) get. And at the risk of getting too off topic I'd also be in favor of one more. Any President or member of congress who declares war or votes in favor of a military action would have their son(s)/daughter(s) immediately drafted and sent to the combat zone.
I go to a VA, and I've received nothing but good treatment and kind care. I asked a nurse one day whre the Doctors come from. IN the fifties there were terrible stories about military medicine. She told me a lot of medical people retire, and just want to give back, and stay in Medicine. So they work in the VA. Now, I'm in Florida, so maybe we get the pick of the crop. What an amazing story. Here's another article that will turn your stomach. How would you like to have a hole in you, and your mother has to come babysit because the Army won't take care of you? I don't know what is going to happen, but I can't see Politics as usual much longer. It's not even funny anymore. I think we can all agree, if they don't care if the GI's live or die, they sure don't care about us..... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401394_pf.html
I like how republicans on here call Walter Reed a problem of both parties yet it was Democrat Barbara A. Mikulski who was against the privatizing the center, Mikulski Continues Fight to Protect Federal Employees at Walter Reed Army Medical Center . Can't republicans do anything right? I guess Haliburton isn't in the business of taking care of troops when they come home but man, they sure do know how to rip the taxpayer with those nonbid contracts on work either not done or contracted out.