Reporters gather in front of the Mologne House inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center complex Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007, in Washington. The Army fired the general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center after disclosures about inadequate treatment of Iraq vets and other wounded soldiers. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta )
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"Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday fired the Army secretary and President Bush vowed to investigate allegations of substandard treatment of wounded soldiers as his administration scrambled to contain fallout from the scandal over squalid housing and bureaucratic delays in outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center."
.............."I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed," Gates said. "Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems."
Later, in an interview, an emotional Harvey appeared apologetic and defensive. "It's unexcusable to have soldiers in that type of building," he said, explaining why he resigned. But he also said the Post stories lacked balance. "Where's the other side of the story?" he asked, his voice rising. "Two articles in your paper have ruined the career of General Weightman, who is a very decent man, and then a captain . . . and the secretary of the Army. If that satisfies the populace, maybe this will stop further dismissals."
In a sign of the seriousness with which Bush takes the situation, the White House announced that he will soon name a commission to look into whether there are similar problems at other military and veterans hospitals. Administration officials took the unusual step of releasing early the text of Bush's regular Saturday radio address, in which the president will vow to ensure that the government meets the physical and mental health needs of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Most of the people working at Walter Reed are dedicated professionals," Bush will say, according to the text. "Yet some of our troops at Walter Reed have experienced bureaucratic delays and living conditions that are less than they deserve. This is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to our country, and it's not going to continue."
..........................Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and a close ally of leading war critic Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), said Bush's new commission is too little too late. "He's the executive," Moran said. "This has been six years, and now six years later, after an awful lot of neglect, he's going to get around to putting a commission together, a study to tell him what to do. . . . I think he's feeling politically desperate." White House officials said politics played no role in their decision to form the commission, saying that Bush is genuinely outraged by the conditions at Walter Reed and that he learned about them from the recent news reports. "Once the Walter Reed stories ran, there was a collective feeling in the building, and certainly from the president, that whatever reasons or excuses, it was unacceptable," said Tony Fratto, deputy White House press secretary.
.....................Read this lively Washingtonpost.com article, Army Secretary Resigns
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Personal Addendum
Such 'serious and pro-active' action by the White House, characterises the determination with which 'President Bush', through whom US, is determined to Navigate the dawn of a "Peaceful, Democratic and a Civilised Worldorder'.
"'Yesterday' may not be 'Tomorrow', but shall be the 'Vital Guide', for a 'Better Tomorrow'."
Love and Peace.
BEST OF FUTURE
