The responses in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal are coming fast and furious now, including the resignation of the Secretary of the Army. This following the firing of the director of Walter Reed and the removal of his initial replacement after 1 day.
The whole thing is a complete embarassment to the Bush administration and to the nation as a whole. W. has said it's unacceptable and is moving to make things right as quickly as he can. On that, I take him at his word but would say that simply making a few moves at the top is not the end here. Someone must own this issue and accept responsibility for making things right. That someone will be a mid-level manager somewhere in the U.S. Army or their civilian leadership.
Walter Reed is currently, and should most definitely be, an embarassment for us all. The conditions there are deplorable. No one -- veteran or otherwise -- should be subject to broken equipment, filthy rooms, rodent infestation, and the other problems that exist there and have been so well documented by The Washington Post.
To be fair, conditions at the National Institutes of Health buildings in Bethesda probably aren't much better and probably deserve an equal level of scrutiny. I'm sure eventually The Washington Post will get interested in investigating that area too.
Sadly, the problems that have happened in these places aren't because of a lack of money. At least not primarily so. These places have seen millions and millions of dollars pass through their budgets over time. The problem is that the money that has passed through has been ear-marked for special projects and things that provide positive press and visibility for these places. Make things sexy in the right places and you might get more money. Make improvements where no one of import notices and no one will care.
It is sad that proper treatment of our injured veterans isn't sexy enough or apparently important enough to get the money and attention that is really required and deserved. I'm sure that this scandal will change that for a while, and I'm equally sure that chest thumpers like Waxman, Murtha and others will score some political points by promising money and investigations and other sabre rattling that will get attention now. Where those folks will be on the issue in a year or two is debatable. By then the issue probably won't be as hot and won't get the response that we get now.
I hope things are improved as much as possible as soon as possible and I hope those improvements last a long time. Our vets deserve no less.
