Army Secretary Fired Over Walter Reed Fiasco

Army Secretary Fired Over Walter Reed Fiasco

Source Link: news.yahoo.com

It began with reports of mice and moldy plaster, but after two weeks of outrage, the scandal over poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has claimed several careers _ including the secretary of the Army's.

Secretary Francis J. Harvey's abrupt dismissal Friday came under withering criticism from Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who said the Army's response to the substandard conditions for the war-wounded was defensive, and not aggressive enough.

(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 3-3-2007 by Icarus Rising]

The link is weak, and may not work. The story was posted on my homepage less than an hour ago. I'll try to fix it later.

Seems the White House is concerned about image fallout as a result of this scandal becoming public, and the fact that these problems have been known about and unresolved for quite some time. They must want to be seen as taking decisive action. A bit too late for that, I'm afraid.

Like I said in my first thread on it, the most damaging aspect of this fiasco for the Bush administration is how it shows with complete, glaring clarity that it is possible to support the WOT without supporting the troops fighting it, and that is exactly what this administration has been doing.

Responsibility for this injustice goes all the way to the top, imo.

[edit on 3-3-2007 by Icarus Rising]

According to other sources, there have been complaints about the conditions for as long as 3 years, some coming directly from members of Congress and nothing's been done about it. Another thing that's coming to light with this, is that the war wounded numbers are astronomical and have been pretty much glossed over with all the reporting focused on the daily death tolls.

it's amazing how the crap hits the fan Only after the media sheds light on it.
how many congressmen have boasted of their support for the troops claiming weekly visits to this place, what about the president? and they had no knowledge whatsoever of this problem??
for some reason I find this hard to believe...
the story finally caught steam in the mainstream press....so now they have to spend some of those precious tax dollars fixing things...what a shame.

what is blatant is that this government will do whatever it wants...till it gets caught.

the war wounded numbers are astronomical and have been pretty much glossed over with all the reporting focused on the daily death tolls.

This may be one of the only lessons learned from the Vietnam War that is being successfully applied to the WOT, and it goes a long way toward showing the intent of this administration to keep the real cost of this conflict, the astronomical human toll, hidden from the American public for as long as possible.

It is simply reprehensible. Misdirection backed up by token gestures underpinned by outright lies.

Originally posted by Icarus Rising


Like I said in my first thread on it, the most damaging aspect of this fiasco for the Bush administration is how it shows with complete, glaring clarity that it is possible to support the WOT without supporting the troops fighting it, and that is exactly what this administration has been doing.

Responsibility for this injustice goes all the way to the top, imo.

[edit on 3-3-2007 by Icarus Rising]

Baloney. Walter Reed has been around for years. The Bush admin. did not fund it, build it, staff it, and operate it.

The proper action was taken with Harvey's firing.

The wounded heros kept in those deplorable conditions are there as a direct result of President Bush's warmongering, pre-emptive first strike, offensive policy, the same one Guliani was parroting yesterday.

High officials in the government have known about, and reported, the problem with the facility for at least the past three years. It happened on his watch. Our wounded soldiers are there because of his policies. He's responsible.

You can say baloney all you want, it doesn't change the facts. This administration supports the WOT without adequately supporting the troops fighting it.

They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Not that they ever would be, but they ought to.

OK, I see your point. No war, no patients to be abused.

But how long have the deplorable conditions existed at Walter Reed, is my question?

I think we are about to find out.

I hope you aren't asking because you want to blame it on some previous administration headed by someone from another political party. The federal government is to blame, and President Bush is in charge and has been in charge for over six years. If he inherited the problem, he should have seen to it being fixed when he went off to fight the WOT, anticipating the influx of casualties.

As several House committees prepared to delve into the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, outraged lawmakers vowed quick action and called for an independent commission to examine poor conditions for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lawmakers to Hold Walter Reed Hearings