Thursday, March 08, 2007

The Problem is Not Enough Money

I couldn't be happier that the horrible conditions at Walter Reed have been exposed, and that some action is finally being taken to clean things up for the soldiers who receive treatment there. But it's also frustrating to note the fact that people like Fred Kaplan have been writing for three years about how inadequately funded services are for physically and psychologically wounded troops, and that even now, the main focus seems to be on fixing the problems specifically at Walter Reed. The Bush administration is following the usual course of blaming the soldiers as far down on the rungs as possible (though this time they've gotten themselves some generals.) But the fact of the matter is it's the budgets recommended repeatedly by the Bush administration itself that have failed to provide adequate funding for wounded troops. And I'm afraid that even now, once a few promises are made about Walter Reed and some hearings are held, it'll be back to business as usual.

UPDATE: See, this is what I'm talking about.

2 comments:

adam said...

C'mon dude, the free market can take care of our veterans better than government can.

adam said...

Honestly, this Walter Reed stuff shouldn't be a surprise. Certainly the admin is at fault, but we've been failing our veterans for decades.