The Shameful Treatment of our Veterans: Crusading Reporters to the Rescue!

The wonderful thing about telling the truth is that it disinfects and cleanses those who tell it. Conversely, it shames and holds up to ridicule those who have told lies and hidden the truth, to protect their own sorry ambition or incompetence or greed. For the last week or so, readers of the Washington Post have been treated to a series of horrifying articles outlining the extent to which injured Iraq War veterans have been abused by our own Veterans Administration. The reports are stunningly well written and expansively sourced. In short, this series of articles is sure to win many journalistic prizes. With every passing day, the story became more twisted and the officials in charge of the rat and cockroach infested horror known as, “Building 18,” became contortionists desperately trying to evade responsibility for their neglect of our wounded veterans.

After 10 days of unrelenting disclosure, yesterday the Army finally announced in a press release ("no questions, please!") that Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and of the Walter Reed center, was relieved of command by the secretary of the Army, Francis J. Harvey. The Army said the action was under consideration for the past several days and that a decision was made yesterday. “Maj. Gen. Weightman was informed this morning that the senior Army leadership had lost trust and confidence in the commander’s leadership abilities to address needed solutions for soldier-outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,” the statement said. See, Washington Post. The smug Surgeon General of the Army and commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command, General Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, will take over temporarily as commander of Walter Reed “until a general officer is selected for this important leadership position.” In other words, Kiley’s been sacked too, and rightfully so

Don Imus may be an acquired taste, but in Kiley’s case he was right on: “this smug bastard gave a statement in which he bragged about jogging around the facility. JOGGING! While the wounded amputees lie in filth! You just can’t make this stuff up.” The American people owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Hull and Ms. Priest. Their courage and careful research broke one of the biggest stories of the year. When will people realize that the way we have treated the grievously wounded Iraq and Afghan War veterans reflects the same fecklessness that caused their wounds. If there is any justice in the hereafter, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz and their little helpers have earned a special place in hell. Let’s not forget Thomas Jefferson’s famous lament: “I TREMBLE FOR MY COUNTRY WHEN I REFLECT THAT GOD IS JUST; THAT HIS JUSTICE CANNOT SLEEP FOREVER.”

Savant

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