Because of Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is in bad shape.
Some think the Army, in particular, bearing the brunt of the war in
Iraq, is nearly broken.
But if this country can not or will not care for the men and women who
are serving their country at the commander in chief's call, we all
should be ashamed.
Bush now ranks among the most unpopular U.S. presidents in history.
Some 65 percent disapprove of how he's doing, according to a new
Washington Post-ABC News poll.
(The worst recorded was Richard Nixon, with a 66 percent disapproval
rating just before he resigned.)
Bush has made clear that the lack of approval won't affect any of his
major decisions, including continuing the war in Iraq.
Congressional Democrats, mindful of the public's lack of interest in
the impeachment of Clinton, have no intention of going that route.
But if dramatic improvements are not made, and made quickly, in the
quality of care given to U.S. soldiers injured in Iraq and
Afghanistan, Bush must be held accountable.
He should be brought up on impeachment charges for dereliction of
duty.
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/25710
Friday, July 27, 2007
Bush must be held accountable on veterans' care
By ANN MCFEATTERS
Scripps Howard News Service
Four years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration
has been called on the carpet by its own presidential panel for not
providing adequate care for the thousands of soldiers wounded in the
war.
But five months after The Washington Post documented chaos, confusion
and incompetence in the care some badly wounded soldiers received at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the first instinct of the White House
after receiving its panel's report on veterans' care was to do
nothing.
Spokesman Tony Snow told reporters that President Bush would not take
any initial action on the bipartisan panel's report:
"He's not going to be making recommendations. He's not going to be
issuing calls for action."
A few hours later, wiser heads prevailed.
Two soldiers that had each lost a leg went running with Bush on the
White House's spongy jogging track, with the press permitted to record
the event.
Bush said he instructed Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans
Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson "to look at every one of (the panel's)
recommendations, to take them seriously and to implement them so that
we can say with certainty that any soldier who has been hurt will get
the best possible care and treatment that this government can offer."
With Nicholson having announced his resignation, effective Oct. 1, the
president effectively dumped the catastrophe on Gates, already
overwhelmed by the war in Iraq.
What is truly outrageous is that the administration has had four years
to get its act together on treating wounded soldiers.
__________________________________________________
The monthly U.S. death toll through July 26 is 67
3,646 American troops are dead, 26,953 have been wounded
Harry
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