Have you seen this? New questions about Walter Reed. Problems were KNOWN in 2004! and IGNORED!

[in_cog_ni_to]

New Walter Reed questions

Democratic senators ask why the government failed to respond to 2004 warning about hospital conditions.

By Mark Benjamin



Pete Weissman © 2007

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questions VA secretary Jim Nicholson on Thursday.

April 13, 2007 | WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senate Democrats demanded Thursday that the Bush administration explain its failure to respond earlier to warnings about the grave problems plaguing veterans' healthcare at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The senators were responding to the disclosure by Salon that a 2004 government report -- based on focus group sessions with veterans and their families -- had highlighted the conditions at Walter Reed six months before the first reports of the scandal appeared in the press.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington quizzed top Veterans Affairs officials, including VA secretary Jim Nicholson, about the focus groups at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on the department's budget. Referring to the 2004 document, Murray said, "It is troubling that that long ago there was a report somewhere that these issues were festering there."

At the same time, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois referred to the Salon article in a letter to President Bush asking that he direct Nicholson to release all Seamless Transition Task Force documents, so that the Veterans' Affairs Committee could assess "what actions VA leaders took in 2004 to work with the DOD to streamline portions of the bureaucracy and assist servicemembers." The presidential candidate also linked his questions about the focus groups to the pending Senate confirmation of a VA official, Dr. Michael Kussman, who has been nominated by Bush to be undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

MUCH MORE at link:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/04/13/walter_reed/

[gulfcoastliberal]

1. It's kind of hard for me to believe no Dems knew about this then, too.

That would mean that zero vets wrote to dem senators for help or to tell them what the situation was.

[TahitiNut]

5. Nothing like a dose of political garlic to scare the partisan vampires away.

:rofl:

[tavalon]

7. Yes

but, we weren't even able to hold hearings on election issues without getting stuck in the basement back then. I do wonder who might have known but didn't have a microphone.

[Bitwit1234]

2. OK add this to the rules and regs

When a person is appointed or hired to be the head of say Walter Reed, they should have a clause that they sign or swear to, that, if they have been informed of an infraction of the operating facility, etc they will be charged with criminal negligence. In other words they will be legally responsible for trying to get the problem fixed.

[TahitiNut]

3. Don't be silly.

Such focus groups and studies are only intended to blow sunshine up political skirts. They're the fields in which only the "good news" (the gospel according to Cheney) is harvested. Everyone knows that veterans are just disgruntled complainers. That's why they're like children, intended "to be seen and not heard" in photo ops and backdrops for demagogues. Isn't it enough that they've found a way to recycle used-up cannon fodder? It's "ecological." Let's take a lesson from the 70s ... ignore them! It's a waste of taxpayer dollars that could be given back as tax cuts.

:sarcasm: <-- is this really necessary?

[TahitiNut]

4. "Let's take a lesson from the 70s ... ignore them!"

It's heartwarming that so many on DU have learned the lesson so well. :evilgrin:

[bobthedrummer]

6. "International American Products Inc./IAP: A DU investigation thread"

This archived thread started as a look into the involvement of IAP in the Walter Reed outpatient revelations-it quickly expanded due to the interconnected systemic corruption involved.
(Not recommended for those that aren't willing to risk losing their belief systems searching for the truth-don't forget that the Iraq invasion was a war of choice based on lies)

Oh yes-it also requires spending some time going over the links and comments--this isn't a 4 minute youtube piece, it can be useful for indictments and serious researchers and should be shared with others.

archived thread started March 3, 2007 "International American Products Inc./IAP: A DU investigation thread"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x360539