This was a very interesting series of articles that came out of the Washington Post this weekend.

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility (2/18/2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html

The Hotel Aftermath (2/19/2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335.html

Hospital Investigates Former Aid Chief (2/20/2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901113.html

Army Fixing Patients' Housing (2/20/2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900759.html

Apparently, there was severe neglect for recovering veterans sent to Walter Reed with numerous individuals staying in decrepit housing with minimal care and support. After the story broke over the weekend, the military has gone into overdrive to inspect and clean up the facilities.

The treatment was a gross travesty, and I'm thankful to the Washington Post for publishing this story and spurring the military into action.

Critics paint that this is simply another example of the Bush administration's neglect of veterans, etc. I wonder how much of this can be attributed to the White House though; in all honesty, this sounds more like the classic case of a bureaucratic snafu, especially for a bureaucracy as large as the DoD. While the Aid Chief is a screwup, it seems that he was qualified on paper for the job, so I don't see another Michael Brown-type case here.

Nevertheless, I suppose the real test is how the military and the administration handles the fallout of this issue.

Thoughts?

2/20/2007 1:54:06 PM

[TreeTwista]
Do you believe everything the liberal propaganda machine tells you?
[/TreeTwista]

Just wanted to get that comment over and done with.

2/20/2007 2:29:11 PM

From what I have heard the Vet Clinics have always sucked and have pretty consistent budget shortfalls. No shock that the quality of care sucks

2/20/2007 2:45:58 PM

^^ You're quite the bitch as of late.

2/20/2007 3:18:01 PM

I've always been a bitch, tell me something I don't know?

2/20/2007 3:19:45 PM

Colfax Avenue in Denver is the longest continuous street in America.

2/20/2007 3:30:04 PM

^that is pretty cool.


The reason this is a Bush problem and not a beuracracy problem is two fold. First, Reed is the most prominent VA hospital, so if it is in the shitter then every other hospital is, presumably, in worst shape. A beuracracy would probably not forget about Reed. Second, and more important, is that Bush has significantly cut benefits to veterans as a way of helping to shrink spending. The problem here is that because of Afghanistan, and especially Iraq, the strain being placed on Veterans Affairs is much more than in recent years. So they are being given less money to deal with more people.

2/20/2007 9:36:22 PM

Quote :

"The reason this is a Bush problem and not a beuracracy problem is two fold. First, Reed is the most prominent VA hospital, so if it is in the shitter then every other hospital is, presumably, in worst shape."

It should be clarified that the hospital itself is still one of the premier medical institutions in the United States. The issue is the period after immediate medical care where the soldiers recover and are sorted by the mighty bureaucracy whether they are to receive discharge or return into active duty. Many of the issues with regards to poor facilities are buildings that were excess buildings that were quickly converted to dormitories for the recovering. One could easily make the case then that it was the aid staff of Walter Reed or the military that was unprepared to handle the surge in casualties and did not have a proper plan in place.

One could make the case of a hospital cover up. Afterall, when the President and members of Congress come to visit, they see the patients in the shiny recovery rooms, not the dorms of wounded soldiers waiting wondering their fates.

Quote :

"Second, and more important, is that Bush has significantly cut benefits to veterans as a way of helping to shrink spending. The problem here is that because of Afghanistan, and especially Iraq, the strain being placed on Veterans Affairs is much more than in recent years. So they are being given less money to deal with more people."

I think this is a good point. Despite the continuous military action, the administration has not done enough to handle the increased numbers of wounded soldiers and veterans. Whether this is because of distraction by other issues, an assumption that the bureaucracy was handling it, or at worst gross negligence or even intentional, is something that can be argued.

2/20/2007 10:12:28 PM

I dont know enough about the specifics to say whether it was a lack of money or a lack of planning.

Im willing to say that the lack of funds being given to the vets is willful and disgusting. The effect of troops being treated like shit I doubt is intended, but they certainly could have predicted it would happen. I mean, you go to war, of course there are going to be casualties. To lower the funding is beyond questionable.

2/20/2007 10:24:52 PM

This is one of several issues on which I part ways with the Bush administration and many Republicans. You simply cannot be hawkish as hell and then not give the nation's war wounded TOP QUALITY medical care. And, yes, much of the veterans' health-care system in our country has been in shambles for years--more is the pity.

2/21/2007 3:54:46 AM

Quote :

"This is one of several issues on which Ialmost every person in America parts ways with the Bush administration and many Republicans. "

2/21/2007 7:47:47 AM

I was listening to the Diane Rehm Show where Dana Priest and Anne Hull (the authors of the articles) are on with Lt. General Kevin Kiley, the current U.S. Army Surgeon General Commander for U.S. Army Medical Command and the former head of Walter Reed Hospital at the start of the Iraq War.

From what I'm gathering, this is sounding more like a case of the military neglecting veterans versus any particular political entity. The impression I'm getting in the discussion is that whenever the military asks for resources to help wounded soldiers from Congress and the White House, they get the money they need with no questions asked. However, the problem seems to be that the military doesn't bother asking for the resources, and the Congress and White House are simply assuming that since the military isn't asking for any additional funds, that everything is going to plan. Again, I would level charges of sloppy oversight against the administration and the Republicans (the ass in assumption and all that nonsense), but I don't see this as them intentionally neglecting the wounded from Iraq.

This however, does not apply to funding cuts to the VA. They are guilty for the budget they create.

2/21/2007 10:36:35 AM

Considering the military cant pay for basic maintenance on the bases and equipment we have, they might be spending the money on protecting the troops in the field instead of those at home

but its absurd that they would have to make a choice between fixing classrooms at west point, fixing walter reed or giving tanks that work to the troops in the field

2/21/2007 11:23:38 AM

Quote :

"However, the problem seems to be that the military doesn't bother asking for the resources, and the Congress and White House are simply assuming that since the military isn't asking for any additional funds, that everything is going to plan."

hahaha, yes everything is that simple
you need to let someone know

2/21/2007 12:15:09 PM

Quote :

"Colfax Avenue in Denver is the longest continuous street in America."

How long is it? I take it highways don't count?

2/21/2007 3:28:28 PM

Quote :

"You simply cannot be hawkish as hell and then not give the nation's war wounded TOP QUALITY medical care. "

socialized medicine FTW.

welcome to our side, hook.

2/21/2007 3:54:23 PM

^ It's not a pejorative "entitlement" if you earned it--oftentimes through not only service, but the loss of limbs, eyes, pieces of skull and brain, and so on.

2/21/2007 4:42:25 PM

Quote :

"Considering the military cant pay for basic maintenance on the bases and equipment we have, they might be spending the money on protecting the troops in the field instead of those at home"

Do bases and Walter Reed fall under an actual budget, and not the unlimited account the war is financed under? Seems like they just need to group it together and fire up the money machines, and keep lowering taxes!

2/21/2007 4:50:18 PM

i was wondering why my nuts were sore...state409 is all over them

2/21/2007 4:57:06 PM

^^ Yes bases fall under the basic budget which is severely restricted right now. The war budget is theoretically seperate, but once a unit redeploys to the US it falls back under the peacetime budget, and its from that account that all the reconsitution money comes from.

As I've pointed out before, the Air Force has the latest and the greatest pretty much all around and has been the beneficiary of the lions share of non-deployed operations budget increases despite its marginal involvement with the war itself. This is not a political party issue, but an issue of bringing home the bacon for a congressman's district or state. A bigger USAF budget means more contracts for $Texas end items, which means more jobs and revenue in said congressman's home district. Brand new F-22 assembly line = sexy, contract for small supplier of body armor components = not sexy.

[Edited on February 21, 2007 at 5:01 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2007 5:01:25 PM

isnt it scheduled to close in 2011? What is going to replace it?

2/21/2007 6:52:08 PM

a new hospital in Bethesda

DeWitt will take some of the burden too down in Belvoir

2/21/2007 6:58:59 PM

I take back what I said about the budget process.

Hang these fuckers from the nearest tree.

Quote :

"Top officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army's surgeon general, have heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years."

Quote :

"In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. "When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable," said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities."

Quote :

"Last October, Joyce Rumsfeld, the wife of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was taken to Walter Reed by a friend concerned about outpatient treatment. She attended a weekly meeting, called Girls Time Out, at which wives, girlfriends and mothers of soldiers exchange stories and offer support. According to three people who attended the gathering, Rumsfeld listened quietly. Some of the women did not know who she was. At the end of the meeting, Rumsfeld asked one of the staff members whether she thought that the soldiers her husband was meeting on his visits had been handpicked to paint a rosy picture of their time there. The answer was yes. When Walter Reed officials found out that Rumsfeld had visited, they told the friend who brought her -- a woman who had volunteered there many times -- that she was no longer welcome on the grounds."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022801954.html

3/1/2007 12:01:24 AM

The gov't can't hardly handle a health care system with our vets... but it will do great with universal socialized medicine.

3/1/2007 12:04:29 AM

i didnt realize criminal behavior ended when you got rid of the govt. or is that because there are also no laws?

3/1/2007 12:06:48 AM

Few people see the human cost of the war, as our wounded veterans are largely tucked away in places like Walter Reed. A lower percentage of the casualties are killed than ever, yet media reports still focus on the number of deaths. The ramifications of Iraq are not going to sink in until we see crippled veterans all over the place 5-10 years down the line.

3/1/2007 2:53:36 AM

Quote :

"Last week, the Army relieved of duty several low-ranking soldiers who managed outpatients. This week, in a move that some soldiers viewed as reprisal for speaking to the media, the wounded troops were told that early-morning room inspections would be held and that further contact with reporters is prohibited."

Sadly, classic military bureaucratic turtling. I don't blame the administration for when the military does stupid stuff, but I do get upset with them when they don't do anything about issues once they come into the open. If the White House and the DoD don't do anything about this travesty, then I hope that the Washington Post rides them for all its worth because with this much publicity, the Democratic Congress is going to have a field day with Republicans (as if they didn't have enough material already).

3/1/2007 11:48:17 AM

Quote :

"The gov't can't hardly handle a health care system with our vets... but it will do great with universal socialized medicine"

nice.

3/5/2007 12:04:42 AM

bump by request

10/25/2009 11:13:03 PM

I was under the impression that Walter Reed was going to be closed down when they finish the monstrosity of a hospital they are currently building at Fort Belvoir. I know they have about four or five other satellite buildings for the hospital at Belvoir that haven't broken ground yet, but the hospital itself is moving right along.

[Edited on October 25, 2009 at 11:44 PM. Reason : I guess it must be Bush's fault that these buildings weren't in place when he took office]

10/25/2009 11:43:34 PM

Quote :

"He knows they're going to stare. They always stare. As soon as Pat Murray steps in the elevator, they'll notice his prosthetic leg and maybe accurately surmise that, yes, he is an Iraq war veteran, and, yes, he got blown up. Then the sadness will sink in, the pity, and they'll give him that look, which he can sense even if he doesn't see, and it will be an uncomfortable few floors up. So as Murray approaches the elevator and the woman thrusts her hand between the closing doors for him, he says, "Careful, you can lose a limb that way." "Oooh," the woman says, noticing Murray's metal leg. She's obviously shocked, unsure of what to say or how to act. Murray flashes a smile, lets loose an "it's okay" chuckle, and suddenly the ride up isn't nearly so awkward after all. It's that type of humor -- spontaneous (he once asked his doctor when his leg would grow back), cunning (he tells children who ask about his "robot" leg that he didn't eat his vegetables) and, at times, gruesome (there are stump jokes that can't be printed here) -- that helped him come to terms with the fact that his right leg is no more. It was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center that Murray, who was a corporal in the Marine Corps, not only learned to walk again, but to laugh. Although doctors and therapists can patch up the physical wounds of war, it is often the humor -- soldier to soldier, Marine to Marine, patient to patient -- that in the space of a punch line can heal as well as the best medicine."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602497_3.html

10/26/2009 4:55:38 AM

^ that's a pretty awesome story

10/26/2009 6:29:09 AM

^^^From what I remember, the new big hospital will be in Bethesda, while DeWitt up in Belvoir is expanding and renovating as well.

[Edited on October 26, 2009 at 6:31 AM. Reason : ...]

10/26/2009 6:31:27 AM