Walter Reed and Beyond

Recommendations on how to fix the military health care system came out earlier this week.

This is in the wake of the Walter Reed scandal and a whole host of reports on how badly returning soldiers are being treated. I like this comment from Tony Snow:

White House press secretary Tony Snow initially told reporters yesterday that Bush would not act immediately on the panel’s advice. “He’s not going to be making recommendations; he’s not going to be issuing calls for actions,” Snow said.

Bush later said that he would implement the recommendations as quickly as possible. Bush had a great great phot-op with two soldiers who had lost legs in combat.

I think this sums the whole situation rather nicely:

“First, President Bush shorted the VA by $1 billion, then he allowed the shameful disaster of Walter Reed and now the White House is pledging more inaction in the face of yet another report on the poor standard of care for our veterans. I proudly supported a $6.7 billion boost to the VA, but what this report is really calling for is strong leadership and that has been missing for six years now.” -- Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., an Iraq War veteran.

Walter Reed Again

Just when you think you won't hear any more horror stories coming out of Walter Reed comes this story from the Post. I guess I can't really be surprised but one would think after the stories in the Post that there would have been some attempt to at least seem helpful. But that is far from the case.

It seems to me that, as a soldier is recovering from his wounds, he shouldn't have to always be on guard against the people who are they to supposedly "help" him. To prove me point:

I could never let down my guard. If I had signed one particular form that my outprocessing manager insisted I had to sign, I could have lost my health insurance.

In this case, what exactly is the role of the process manager to have the government pay as little as possible to this soldier? The role should be making sure each wounded returning soldier is entitled to the best care possible.

The final paragraph is particularly poignant:

I finally got my orders. I expect to leave for home next week and return to civilian life. I hope I never have to return to Walter Reed.

I certainly hope so. Thank you for your service and sacrifice Sergeant David Yancy. All the best to you. And here's hoping only good and wonderful things happen to you in the future.

Kiley exits

Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley has decided to retire this from the Post. It's about time. This is the clueless general who ran Walter Reed and helped to see it run into the ground. This is the guy who would take ultimate responsibility but blamed everyone else for the problems. This is the guy who lived across the street from the infamous building 18 but never bothered to inspect it because "he didn't do inspections"

It seems because he hasn't been in his current post long enough he will loose a star which should the least that should happen to this guy. Somehow something more should happen to him like having to navigate the army's health care system.

It is amazing to see what two articles in the Washington Post have done. It makes me very glad that we live in a free society where these types of things can be brought to the attention to the public. I am also glad that help will be directed at the soldiers who really need it. We sent them to the hell of Afghanistan and Iraq and we should do everything in our power to make sure they have all the care necessary to get better.

Walter Reed Fallout

Fallout continues from the stories in the Washington Post regarding Walter Reed. What now has become overwhelming apparent is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Several stories are in the Post today. One is about the two generals in charge of Walter Reed. Gen. George Weightman seems to be the fall guy. The one who was fired. He seemed very upset that he let down the servicemen. But it also sounds like he was trying to fix the problems. The problems left to him to fix by General Kevin Kiley who is in see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil mode. He was the top person in charge and yet somehow everyone else is to blame but him. Several of those people testifying say they feel that Weightman is getting blames too much and obviously Kiley way too little.


The main story in the Post is just gut wrenching. This is one particular unbelievable exchange:

Shannon was shot in the head during a firefight near Ramadi, Iraq, in November 2004 and has languished at Walter Reed ever since, awaiting plastic surgery so he can be fitted with a prosthetic eye. Paperwork for his retirement from the Army has been on hold.

But his ire yesterday was less about his own treatment than about the sense of betrayal he feels for younger soldiers he has tried to shepherd through the bureaucracy at Walter Reed.

“I will not see young men and women who have had their lives shattered in service to their country receive anything less than dignity and respect,” said Shannon, who at times said he is having difficulty controlling his anger.

It is rather interesting that the Bush administration is bashing Democrats saying they don’t support the troops when they are the ones not supporting them. Once again we will get the slogan of the Bush Administration: no one could have foreseen. At some point it is there job to that.

This from Cheney:

Cheney said that President Bush “has made our administration’s priority very clear to the Congress and to the country: There will be no excuses, only action. And the federal bureaucracy will not slow that action down. We’re going to fix the problems at Walter Reed, period.”

Well it has to be more than Walter Reed. It seems the Post series has opened a flood gate of complaints about facilities all over this country.

A great article about all of this from Howard Kurtz and a little bit about the bitch de jour Ann Coulter.