Another Hurricane Katrina — that's how the "New York Times'" Paul Krugman describes the scandal surrounding the Walter Reed Medical Center and he is absolutely right.
Another glaring example of the Bush administration's lack of ability to deal with the consequences of its actions. Four years after invading Iraq, we're finding out that many of our returning wounded soldiers are being treated like garbage. And the government is quick to sing the chorus of, well, we didn't know.
The former commander of Walter Reed Medical Center, this Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley — he's now the surgeon general of the United States — he lived across the street from Building 18 at Walter Reed — across the street.
Why hasn't he resigned or why hasn't he been fired?
The politicians, well, they want commissions. That's the answer to everything. New York Senator Charles Schumer, he wants an independent commission. President Bush wants a bipartisan commission. In four years, no one bothered to see if our veterans were getting the treatment they're entitled to.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center is in Washington, D.C. We're not talking some medical tent at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. It is a national disgrace, just exactly like Katrina was.
Congress appropriates more than $200 million like — for things like Ted Stevens' Bridge To Nowhere in Alaska, but our wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are ignored. It might be worth remembering when the next election rolls around.
What do you think?
Here's the question — who is ultimately responsible for the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center?
Not making this up ...
My question is, if you didn't have an adequate plan going into a war, no plan for sufficient troops, no plan for sufficient armor, no plan for securing the country, no plan for a post war administration ... how could you possibly have a plan for the aftermath? On any level?
And if you didn't have a plan in the first place ... there's a good chance there isn't a plan "B".
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