DRUDGE - PENTAGON To Investigate Treatment Of Sick, Wounded Troops

[gp]

PENTAGON TO INVESTIGATE TREATMENT OF SICK, WOUNDED TROOPS
Sun Oct 19 2003 19:32:21 ET

The Pentagon will dispatch a team to investigate claims that hundreds of sick and wounded soldiers, including many who served in the Iraq war, are languishing -- sometimes for months -- to see doctors, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The move comes after UPI wire revealed details of the soldiers' plight:

Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor
By MARK BENJAMIN, UPI Investigations Editor

FORT STEWART, Ga., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers' living conditions are so substandard, and the medical care so poor, that many of them believe the Army is trying push them out with reduced benefits for their ailments. One document shown to UPI states that no more doctor appointments are available from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11 -- Veterans Day.

"I have loved the Army. I have served the Army faithfully and I have done everything the Army has asked me to do," said Sgt. 1st Class Willie Buckels, a truck master with the 296th Transportation Company. Buckels served in the Army Reserves for 27 years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Gulf War. "Now my whole idea about the U.S. Army has changed. I am treated like a third-class citizen."

Since getting back from Iraq in May, Buckels, 52, has been trying to get doctors to find out why he has intense pain in the side of his abdomen since doubling over in pain there.

After waiting since May for a diagnosis, Buckels has accepted 20 percent of his benefits for bad knees and is going home to his family in Mississippi. "They have not found out what my side is doing yet, but they are still trying," Buckels said.

More
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

[proud patriot]

1. Bout Fucking time

Bastards :mad: :grr:

[Don_G]

2. Just Heard Part Of His Radio Program

It's so bad that the Reservists are taking whatever they can get and seeking medical help on their own. On top of that, the Regular Army Doctors look at the reservists as more or less welfare cases looking for a second paycheck.

[DulceDecorum]

3. Every time the Pentagon investigates something

it turns out to be fine for the Pentagon.
Maybe we will see some more nice happy letters to the editor.

[Algorem]

4. I sure hope they get to the bottom of themself.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Like the Pentagon didn't know what the the Pentagon's

policy is. Sure, they don't really know what's going on, but they are gonna find out awrighty!

[grasswire]

6. as sad as this is....

.........it could turn some support away from Bush. My heart aches for all these Guardsmen and their families. It would be hard not to be bitter.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Maybe being too optimistic...

but could this possibly be another instance of career professionals within the government, as at Justice the other day, with Ashcroft and the Plame investigation, bringing a situation to light, and forcing some kind of response?

[PartyPooper]

7. "Erin Brokovich" was on TV again last night.

Why does this scenario in Iraq remind me of this debacle in California?

[yankeeinlouisiana]

9. Some people aren't believing this story!

I just called a local radio show because they were discounting the story because it came from Drudge. When I told them it was an UPI story, she told me she "didn't care if it was UPI, AP, ABC or XYZ; she just couldn't believe it and then quickly hung up on me. I was stung!! :wow:

That was the first and it will be the last time I ever call her show!!

[symbolman]

10. Send them to this url

ARMY OF ONE

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/onearmy.html

Soon to be a national commercial on radio and tv

[yankeeinlouisiana]

12. Thanks!

I will. I was so angry when she hung up on me that I emailed her with the link to the UPI story. Unfortunately, Take Back the Media's website maybe too left leaning for this host. :eyes:

[lostnfound]

14. It's too long -- and we need the Democrats to do this commercial n/t

[TNOE]

11. Denial seems to work so well for these people

doesn't it.

[Minstrel Boy]

13. The actual story will more likely be:

"Pentagon to investigate how treatment of sick, wounded troops became public. New media restrictions likely."

[4dsc]

15. Bush really hates our troops

to be treating them like this..

[Zhade]

16. Here's my take on that.

I think one reason is that Bush himself does not care about the troops, even as he uses them as pawns in a new deluxe edition of the Great Game. This does not surprise me — any man who can mock a woman about to be executed, when he is the only one who stands between her life and death, cannot possibly possess much empathy for humanity. But why does Bush seem to despise the troops? He must not be too concerned for their well-being, or there would surely be an outcry from the White House about the defense contractors who never showed up to fulfill their contracts to supply the soldiers with basic needs. He certainly never would have arrogantly demanded that those who wish to kill American soldiers “Bring ‘em on” if he cared one iota for the men and women of the military. Nor would he undercut them economically here at home, thus making life even harder for their families.

As I said at the outset, I believe Bush is jealous of our soldiers. To be precise, I believe he is jealous of the love and devotion they receive — right or wrong — from the general public. And I further believe he is, and will always be, eternally envious of their dedication and courage — two wonderful qualities that he exploits to his own advantage.

You see, George Walker Bush is a coward.

Someone who uses his father’s political connections to dodge the draft and send others to die in his place in Vietnam is a coward.

Someone who dodges personal responsibility for his past actions — and uses questionable means to cover up those actions — is a coward.

Someone who cannot look another in the eye and speak without lying is a coward.

I wrote that two months ago - had I know all I know now, I might have gotten a 'visit' for what I would have written about that fucking traitor.

[0007]

17. If the Pentagon doesn't know

they are seriously malfunctioning and should be investigated. This is as outrageous as the senate okaying 87B and not knowing the true conditions of the problem.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

18. I just emailed Mark Benjamin!!

I was going to email the talk show host again, but then I decided why bother. So I emailed Mark Benjamin to let him know that some people are not believing his story. I suggested he does a follow-up.

We'll see what happens!!

[Fridays Child]

19. Foxes never do a very good job...

...when they're asked to guard the henhouse.