Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (Full Version)

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candystripper -> Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 4:51:13 PM)

WASHINGTON - Army Surgeon General Kevin C. Kiley abruptly stepped down under pressure from military superiors, the third top Army official forced out in the fallout from revelations of shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/walter_reed

This has become a larger issue than just one hospital, and Congressional and Investigative Committees have been formed over it.  No doubt some anti-war legislators are making hay, but it still turns my stomach.
 
candystripper



popeye1250 -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:03:33 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: candystripper

WASHINGTON - Army Surgeon General Kevin C. Kiley abruptly stepped down under pressure from military superiors, the third top Army official forced out in the fallout from revelations of shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/walter_reed

This has become a larger issue than just one hospital, and Congressional and Investigative Committees have been formed over it.  No doubt some anti-war legislators are making hay, but it still turns my stomach.
 
candystripper


But Bush has plenty of money for "foreign aid"!
There are 2,000 contracters in Iraq draining us of Billions!
And he wants to give our money to S. America now?
We need to be building Veterans Hospitals in this country with that money!
I hope some people in here will call their congressmen and senators about this!



ferryman777 -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:10:18 PM)

What about Reagan shutting down VA hospitals, displacing thousands of Vets, dening benefits? I saw the guys, on gurnies, a tent covering the lower part of their bodies, rolling down 7th ave in Long Beach, thrown OUT of the VA hospital, others in wheel chairs, relatives coming for some, the others, who knows what. When I remind people of this Reagan legacy; I'm reminded it was the Dems who controlled the house, Reagan was powerless to do anything. Reagan said nothing, just signed the closures.

Who now is president?......do you think this is just Walter Reed?

Is it the demcrats again responsible for this Walter Reed thing? Has this been going on for just a week or two? Who is it that has control of the spending?... and the house? Is Clinton going to get the blame for this over the years? If so, who controlled the house during Clinton?



Sinergy -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:14:56 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ferryman777

What about Reagan shutting down VA hospitals, displacing thousands of Vets, dening benefits? I saw the guys, on gurnies, a tent covering the lower part of their bodies, rolling down 7th ave in Long Beach, thrown OUT of the VA hospital, others in wheel chairs, relatives coming for some, the others, who knows what. When I remind people of this Reagan legacy; I'm reminded it was the Dems who controlled the house, Reagan was powerless to do anything. Reagan said nothing, just signed the closures.

Who now is president?......do you think this is just Walter Reed?

Is it the demcrats again responsible for this Walter Reed thing? Has this been going on for just a week or two? Who is it that has control of the spending?... and the house? Is Clinton going to get the blame for this over the years? If so, who controlled the house during Clinton?


It is a funding issue, ferryman777.

CAR fundings (giving people the same money you gave them last year because the nitwits in charge of budgetting cannot pass a budget) have been de riguer for several years now.

Of course, the funding for VA hospitals 6 years ago funded a certain set of parameters.  Now we have many more grievously injured vets coming home from Iraq.  But there is no new money to pay for their care.  Can only squeeze a rock to get blood out of it for so long.

While you sound like you want to pin it on this or that president, it really falls back on Congress who does all the budgetting.

The Democrats have not held power one year, and certainly not long enough to actually do their job and write a budget, so what you are seeing today is the leftovers from Republican control of both houses of congress.

Sinergy



missturbation -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:25:48 PM)

A little of topic but maybe worth mentioning that British soldiers who served in iraq are having to wait up to 18 months for treatment for stress, mental illness caused by their service over there.



popeye1250 -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:26:20 PM)

I saw on the news that Military and Veterans Administration Hospitals are being overwhelmed by the large numbers of wounded.
The Veterans Administration alone is going to need a LOT more money right now and in the decades to come.
They need to build brandnew hospitals, increase staff, supplies, different programs and money for pensions.
If they need to raise (my) taxes then what are they waiting for?
Raise em!
I've seen some of these guys in the local V.A. Clinic here and at the V.A. Hospital in Charleston. Horrible injuries.
Price be damned, we should give them whatever they need!!!



Sinergy -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:27:42 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

I saw on the news that Military and Veterans Administration Hospitals are being overwhelmed by the large numbers of wounded.
The Veterans Administration alone is going to need a LOT more money right now and in the decades to come.
They need to build brandnew hospitals, increase staff, supplies, different programs and money for pensions.
If they need to raise (my) taxes then what are they waiting for?
Raise em!
I've seen some of these guys in the local V.A. Clinic here and at the V.A. Hospital in Charleston. Horrible injuries.
Price be damned, we should give them whatever they need!!!


I blame Monkeyboy for putting our soldiers in harms way.

I blame Congress for not giving the VAs enough money to care for them.

Sinergy



farglebargle -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:31:43 PM)

Only the Bush Administration could have failed to foresee this event.

Just like they failed to foresee the effect of Paul Bremer's incompetence.




Sinergy -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:35:18 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: farglebargle

Only the Bush Administration could have failed to foresee this event.

Just like they failed to foresee the effect of Paul Bremer's incompetence.




I would be curious to hear an example of anybody in the Bush administration that would qualify for the word "competent" without the appropriate word citing it's absence in their sentence.

Sinergy



farglebargle -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:41:12 PM)

Competently: "Scooter Libby COMPETENTLY took a bullet for Cheney, and stopped the Fitzgerald investigation from going any further up the chain-of-command".




Sinergy -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:43:44 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: farglebargle

Competently: "Scooter Libby COMPETENTLY took a bullet for Cheney, and stopped the Fitzgerald investigation from going any further up the chain-of-command".




You are suggesting that Scooter Libby's job was to obstruct the Fitzgerald investigation?

I can understand your use of the term competently to describe his illegal endeavors, but my comment was
more related to doing the job they were hired to do.

Sinergy



farglebargle -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 5:58:22 PM)

I understand your point. My response was (mostly) tongue-in-cheek.




Sinergy -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 6:53:46 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: farglebargle

I understand your point. My response was (mostly) tongue-in-cheek.




I understand that

[whisper]

Ixnay on the onguetay-inway-eekchay, ootay anymay eadersray illway aketay ouyay eriouslysay andway inkthay atthay ooterScay ibbyLay's objay asway obstructionway ofway ongressionalCay investigationway.

[/whisper]

Good call.

Sinergy



dcnovice -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 6:59:02 PM)

quote:

Is Clinton going to get the blame for this over the years?


I wouldn't be surprised to see folks attempt to pin the blame on Clinton.



dcnovice -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 7:02:33 PM)

I wonder how much medical care could have been provided with the money that went into all those "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers.



MzMia -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/12/2007 8:56:55 PM)

I live not far from Walter Reed and ride past it all the time.
My heart was sad when I drove by it yesterday, you should see the shabby motels across the street,
that many of the families stay in.
My heart hurts for these young men, I saw a young man in a wheelchair he was missing one leg,
I am fairly sure he was a Vet.  I asked my nephew he said they hang out in this area of Silver Spring
we were in.  Seeing these guys will break your heart, we can't do enough for them.
When I see them, I always thank them and hug them if I can.



Vendaval -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/13/2007 12:46:42 AM)

This whole situation is a national disgrace.  Unfortunately I am
not that surprised, because of a friend who was injured during
military training and has spent years dealing with the VA
bureaucracy and red tape.



KenDckey -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/13/2007 1:53:19 AM)

It isn't a democratic or republican problem.   You can't blame it on any one administration.   My first dealings with theVA were in the mid 1970's  They sucked then.   In the Mid 1980's nothing had changed.   I have been waiting since 1986 for one appointment and I was friends with the Assistant Administrator of the local VA Hosp.

Military medicine has also gotten worse.  Since I joined the Army in 1966 the best medical care I ever got from anyone in the military was from a hospitalman 2nd class on a Fletcher Class Destroyer in the late 60's.

Money is not the only solution.   they also need a change of administrators.   They need someone that cares about the quality of life and health of our troops.



Zensee -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/13/2007 2:06:03 AM)

The fatality numbers count only a very small part of the cost in human suffering amongst US service people in this war.

Owing to improved front-line critical care and flying Intensive Care units, more soldiers are surviving what would have previously been fatal injuries. While that is great for soldiers and their families it seems to have a somewhat cynical purpose for the government. Reducing fatalities looks good on paper and prolongs the palatability of the war in Iraq. But an increasing number of soldiers are returned home with life altering injuries, which the government clearly are unprepared or unwilling to treat.

More and more of the wounded suffer from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). This invisible wound is hard to diagnose and harder to treat as it may manifest a broad spectrum of symptoms, everything from mild confusion to a vegetative state, severe mental impairment, personality disorders, chronic pain and a host of others.

Unlike physical injury, soldiers with TBI may be pressed back into service, accused of malingering or faking. Those clearly unable to function face long and complex therapies (expensive therapies) and a need for comprehensive assistance, often for life.

Z.



LadyEllen -> RE: Failure of Care for Wounded US Soliders (3/13/2007 4:14:48 AM)

We have the exact same problem in the UK it seems - the "front end" to get people to sign up is
a 21st century affair with all the whistles and bells one could wish for, but the "back end", where people leave for whatever reason (end of service or discharge) is lamentable - theyre literally kicked back into civilian life without a clue of what to do or where to go.

We just had a soldier who returned from Iraq, die on a trolley in a corridor of one of the NHS hospitals. He'd been left there for hours in his own excrement. Truly a land fit for heroes.

E



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