BCT Editorial – 3/6/07

This page was last updated on March 8, 2007.

National disgrace; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 6, 2007.

The purpose of this critique is not to defend the alleged poor conditions at the Walter Reed outpatient facilities or at any other VA hospital. Our veterans deserve the best medical care we can provide. Anything less is unacceptable. The purpose of this critique is to show the editorial is using the allegations for political reasons that have nothing to do with the welfare of veterans.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Send in the moms.

“In his weekly radio address, President Bush announced that he will name a commission to look into the quality of care at the nation’s military and veterans’ hospitals.

“He did this because of the mounting anger, at least in some circles, over a scandal involving the treatment of wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

“The Pentagon already has taken steps to clean up mess - physically and administratively. The housing the outpatients were staying in is being scrubbed and painted, and secretary of the Army, commander of Walter Reed and some administrators have been canned.

“Don’t be fooled by this flurry of activity. The problem has been known for years. The Washington Post reports the hospital’s command had been aware of the substandard situation for more than three years.

“The neglect doesn’t end at Walter Reed. In its cover story ‘Failing Our Wounded,’ Newsweek reported that wounded Iraq veterans have had to wait weeks and even months to receive care and treatment from the veterans’ health-care system.

“It’s national disgrace.

“The Bush White House and the Pentagon deserve much of the blame. Their failure to recognize that the nature of the war in Iraq has changed the kind of the wounds U.S. military personnel were receiving not only reflected incompetence. They also were morally blind. The system is being overwhelmed with soldiers, sailors, Marines and Air Force personnel who have been blinded, who have lost arms and legs and who have suffered brain damage - and those in power chose not to see.”

[RWC] Hmm, what about Congress? Don’t we always here from the Times about Congressional oversight? The editorial didn’t mention Congress because that would drag Democrats into the discussion because Democrats – as well as Republicans – sat on the committees responsible for oversight of the VA.

“The neglect also is a reflection of the growing disconnect between the American people and the U.S. military. As a result of the country having an all-volunteer military, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population serves in the armed forces. For the vast majority of Americans, it is someone else’s son or daughter who is being killed, it is someone else’s mother or father who is being maimed or wounded. It’s very much a shameful case of out of sight, out of mind.”

[RWC] I don’t know about you, but I find this paragraph insulting. Just because not everyone has a close connection with someone in the military, the editorial assumes we don’t care. What an arrogant load of BS!

“Don’t put much stock in Bush’s blue-ribbon panel. As columnist Joseph L. Galloway wrote a few weeks ago, a blue-ribbon panel appointed to look into the scandal will limit its focus. (Remember Abu Ghraib?)”

[RWC] What does Abu Ghraib have to do with Walter Reed? Regarding Abu Ghraib, apparently the Times forgets those accused of wrongdoing at Abu Ghraib were tried and convicted. What upsets the Times is there was no way to charge and convict then-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush.

“However, one of his reader’s came up with a terrific idea. Galloway wrote she suggested ‘that if we really want to get to the bottom of this scandal, we should appoint an investigative commission made up of 10 mothers of wounded soldiers instead of the usual suspects who sit on blue-ribbon commissions and find no one responsible for problems. The mothers, the reader wrote, would sort out who was to blame in short order and find the problems that need fixing even faster.’

“Galloway seconded that proposal, and so do we.

“Send in the moms. They’re among the very few who really do support the troops.”

[RWC] The editorial author must be channeling U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the current Speaker of the House. Last fall, Ms. Pelosi said, “Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House.” During the January swearing-in ceremony, Ms. Pelosi surrounded herself with grandkids in the House chamber to drive home she was both a mother and grandmother.

And how did Ms. Pelosi “clean up the House?” First, she supported an unindicted coconspirator (John Murtha D-PA) in a bribery case (Abscam) for majority leader. Second, she initially supported an impeached and convicted federal judge (Alcee Hastings) for chairman of the Intelligence Committee. Third, she’s putting William Jefferson (D-LA) on the Homeland Security committee. If you recall, Mr. Jefferson was videotaped accepting a $100,000 bribe and $90,000 of the marked bills were found hidden in his freezer.