Dole and Shalala to Lead Walter Reed Commission

President Bush has made the right move in appointing former US Senator and Purple Heart recipient Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala to head a commission investigating the treatment of wounded US soldiers. Both are trustworthy individuals who have no interest in covering up anything. The president should also name a few mothers of wounded troops to the commission. The country let these kids down, and making it right is a litmus test for what the country stands for.

On Monday, wife of Corporal Wendell McLeod, who received an injury to his head in the war, testified before a Congressional committee. Annette McLeod said her husband “has been through the nightmares of the Army medical system. I’m glad that you care about what happened to my husband after he was injured in the line of duty. Because for a long time, it seemed like I was the only one who cared. Certainly, the Army didn’t care. I didn’t even find out that he was injured until he called me himself from a hospital in New Jersey. This is how we treat our soldiers -- we give them nothing. They’re good enough to go and sacrifice their life, and we give them nothing. You need to fix the system.”

Speaking to the American Legion, an organization of former soldiers, Mr. Bush said, “I’m as concerned as you are about the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. My decisions have put our kids in harm’s way. And I’m concerned about the fact that when they come back they don't get the full treatment they deserve. It’s unacceptable to me, it’s unacceptable to you, it’s unacceptable to our country, and it’s not going to continue.” The president has always excelled at righteous indignation, but the words “New Orleans” come to mind when one thinks of his administration’s ability to follow through on noble impulses.

Major General George Weightman, the head of Walter Reed who was fired last week, testified before Congress and admitted, “It is clear mistakes were made, and I was in charge. We can’t fail one of these soldiers or their families, not one, and we did. We did not fully recognize the frustrating bureaucratic and administrative processes some of these soldiers go through. We should have and in this, I failed.” Indeed, and yet, he took the reigns at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on August 25, 2006. The appalling conditions pre-date him by years. “Scapegoat” is probably the correct term.

There are a couple of heroes in this sorry mess. Wounded Army Specialist Jeremy Duncan is the whistleblower who took this up the chain of command, and then to the Washington Post when he got nowhere through channels. And then, there’s the Post and its reporters and editors. Without a free press, without journalists prepared to question authority, none of this would have come to light. And the first step in fixing a mess like this is admitting that it exists. In the coming months, the world will learn whether the people known as "American" have become "American't." Or worse, "Ameriwon't."

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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