And More Disgrace

Well the situation of recovering troops as Walter Reed has gotten worse. According to an article by Kelly Kennedy in Army Times, recovering patients have been told they will get up at 6am every morning to have their rooms ready for inspection by 7am. Further, they should report all issues and problems through their chain of command, and not talk to the press.

They are also supposed to move from building 18 to building 14 within the next couple of weeks. Building 14 is within the grounds of Walter Reed, and visitors - including press - must get clearance and an escort. CNN and the Discovery Channel, which had scheduled to come in and do programs on the situation have been canceled by Walter Reed.

Also by Kennedy, Army denies patients face daily inspections. In this followup article, Kennedy reports that Army officials have denied that soldiers will be gotten up and subject to inspection. However:

But one Building 18 soldier said he woke up Tuesday morning to the sounds of sergeants pounding on doors and yelling, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"I was like, 'Jesus Christ, I'm back in basic training,'" the soldier said.

The soldier said the outpatient soldiers at Building 18 were issued garbage cans and cleaning supplies and told to keep their rooms clean and organized because of all the officials who would be making their way through the building during the investigation next week.

Earlier in the week, soldiers in the unit said they had been told they would have to wake up at 6 a.m. and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m.

I saw Kelly Kennedy interviewed on Keith Oberman (2/28) and she said that she was not sure why this was all news. According to her the GAO had reported on the situation in Building 18 to Congress in March 2006. Which is what we had all suspected.

On a related matter, I watched the special on Bob Woodruff "Iraq and Back." In the report, Woodruff asked about the treatment of troops with traumatic brain injuries once they were released to local VA or private hospitals. He was told that the services and facilities that they needed were available. In following up on that, it became clear that troops were definitely falling through the cracks. Further, that beyond the 20,000 some troops that the military admits have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, that roughly 205,000 personnel had sought out medical care at the VA after since they have returned home. Those visits have been for substantive issues according to Woodruff.

Lies and spin again and again.