Poor Conditions At Walter Reed Army Hospital

The White House and the U.S. Military have been scrambling over the past week to try to explain the poor conditions for War Vets at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Top officials in the White House and the Army now claim that they had no clue about the situation at the Hospital.

Hear Report from NPR

Yet, reporters with the Washington Post were able to find out what was going on and assess the situation just by talking with the troops. The problems were quite obvious.

This is a situation where the military and politicians DID have some idea about the situation at Walter Reed and decided to allow the problems to fester. They only acted when pressure was applied, and tried to act as if they knew nothing about the problems (once the Washington Post report hit the airwaves). NPR actually did a story about the condition at Walter Reed a few years ago. There has been speculation about Walter Reed closing for years, so that a replacement could be built....due to the aging facilities there. This age/condition of the facility was one of the issues cited by the BRAC Commission when it suggested in 2005 that the Hospital should be shut down. So for the military to claim that it didn't know is a joke.

Additional Links

An Interview with Writer Dana Priest, one of the Authors of the Washington Post Report.

An Interview With Paul Reickhoff- the Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Army General Responds to Report

Walter Reed a "Second Hell" for Soldiers

==================

Radio Report About Other Problems Faced By Veterans

Direct Audio Link