Conditions at Walter Reed Hospital

Okay, let's see how the administration handles this one.

"We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it," said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months. "We don't know what to do. The people who are supposed to know don't have the answers. It's a nonstop process of stalling."

The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.

By now you have probably already heard of the deplorable conditions at Water Reed. Half-fallen down ceilings weighted with mold, mouse droppings and dead cockroaches, stained carpet and cheap mattresses. But the question remains, how is this administration going address it and answer for it? And how is the press corps in the White House going to ask the questions that need to be asked?

Here is part of an interview between Keith Olbermann and Jon Soltz, an Iraq war vet who is now Chairman of the political action committee VoteVets.org:

SOLTZ: Last year, the Republican Congress decided they were going to "brac" a lot of military installations around the country, which means "base realignment enclosure". Walter Reed came up on that list. So I think you're seeing the effects of that policy, which is "why are you going to fix the paint and clear the mice out of an institution that's closing?" I think the second striking thing about this piece is that this is actually a part of the Department of Defense. This is not the Veterans Administration which we know is woefully underfunded. The DoD is responsible for these soldiers until they leave active duty.
So basically, the same administration that brought us no body armor and no up-armored humvees is the same administration that brought us mice at Walter Reed. Their support for the war fighter is abysmal.

OLBERMANN: Even if this country had to pay full price at private hospitals so these guys, our neighbors and our friends, could get the care that they need... at full price - no insurance - could the cost possibly amount to more than a microscopic fraction of the billions we've seen vanish down the rabbit holes in Iraq?

JS: No sir, not at all. VoteVets.org, we did this big commercial with body armor and we blew up the body armor and it cost me $1,000 on Ebay to buy the piece; and when my unit went to Iraq , we were cross-leveling plates, we didn't have up-armored humvees and took public embarrassment for that. So the tactical equipment is actually not that expensive. What makes this so shocking is that the money is there for the Pentagon. They get what they request, they get the supplemental from Congress. So what this is, is an administration that is dedicated to the high end corporate contractors, the high end weapons systems in the sky, the super-duper missile defense systems that alienate our allies. These are the same people that are making $40 million a year on their corporate contracts, and that money is coming into the political system on one side. One of the things we do at VoteVets is try to fight for the war fighter and in this specific case, there's no reason why we can't spend the small money on the regular war fighter when we're spending the large money on weapons systems that aren't making a difference on the war on terror.

KO: Where are the Republicans speaking about the treatment of these maimed Americans? And where are the Democrats in their protest on this? Why is there no outrage about this extraordinary circumstance?

JS: I think this is a larger issue. A lot of people think supporting the troops right now means putting a $3 yellow magnet made in Hong Kong on the back of their Hummer and saying they support the troops. I think debate has been absent for a long time, that people would rather flip the channel than deal with the war.
As for the Republicans, the president just presented another budget that slams the VA two years down the road; it was woefully underfunded last year by $2 billion.
As for the Democrats, I think we're seeing movement in this direction. Congressman Murtha's plan here is basically not to let more guys go into Iraq unless they're trained properly, unless they're equipped properly. So this is the first time we're seeing oversight from Congress and I expect to see that. And there's no reason why the President and the Secretary of Defense shouldn't have an immediate investigation. I think Congress should demand hearings immediately on this because our troops deserve the best, and they deserve support worthy of the sacrifices they're making in this war.

Now we wait for the next step. Will there be investigations into yet another administration atrocity?

Watch the whole interview here.

Washington Post Sunday, Feb 18 piece here.