Bush Promises Better Care for Troops

[sabra]

Source: AP/TIME

(WASHINGTON)—President Bush carried a promise of better treatment for neglected war veterans on a tour of Walter Reed Army Medical Center Friday, but critics questioned the timing of the visit six weeks after shoddy conditions were exposed there.

Bush first toured a typical — but empty — patient room in Abrams Hall, where soldiers were transferred after they were vacated from the facility's Building 18, where moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems went unchecked until reported by the media. The room Bush saw featured a wide-screen television and a Macintosh computer on a desk.

"I appreciate that soldiers have got a Mac" to communicate with their families, the president said.

Also during the more than three-hour visit, Bush was touring the main hospital, and awarding 10 Purple Hearts to soldiers recovering from serious wounds suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before leaving, the president was speaking to about 100 medical workers to explain what his administration is doing to improve care for veterans at facilities nationwide.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1605252,00.html

[rodeodance]

1. and AFTERthought--4 yrs. too late.

[louis-t]

2. And not one apology.

But he 'appreciates' y'all.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Yeah and that all encompassing white house probe of the leak of

a CIA's covert status will be finished any day now. That hump of garbage must be getting tired of running out the clock.

[hatrack]

4. Whatfuckingever, President Pantload

Four years late, asshat.

[rodeodance]

5. he would honor them more if he would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater."

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Bush promises vets a better Walter Reed-"I appreciate that soldiers have got a Mac" to communicate..
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x541233#541233
541233, Bush promises vets a better Walter Reed-"I appreciate that soldiers have got a Mac" to communicate..
Posted by Kadie on Fri Mar-30-07 01:08 PM

Bush promises vets a better Walter Reed
Updated 17m ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush carried a promise of better treatment for neglected war veterans on a tour of Walter Reed Army Medical Center Friday, but critics questioned the timing of the visit six weeks after shoddy conditions were exposed there.
Bush first toured a typical — but empty — patient room in Abrams Hall, where soldiers were transferred after they were vacated from the facility's Building 18, where moldy walls, rodent infestation and other problems went unchecked until reported by the media. The room Bush saw featured a wide-screen television and a Macintosh computer on a desk.

"I appreciate that soldiers have got a Mac" to communicate with their families, the president said.

Also during the more than three-hour visit, Bush was touring the main hospital, and awarding 10 Purple Hearts to soldiers recovering from serious wounds suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before leaving, the president was speaking to about 100 medical workers to explain what his administration is doing to improve care for veterans at facilities nationwide.

Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, among retired military officers who took part in a conference call about Bush's visit, praised the president for seeing wounded soldiers. But, he added: "I'm convinced he would honor them more if he would refrain from using soldiers as props in political theater."

more...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-30-walter-reed-bush_N.htm?csp=34

[brooklynite]

6. A simple question for President Bush...

You've visited Walter Reed frequently in the past to "meet with the troops"; we know because you've told us so. While you were there however, you were never shown the buildings that were falling apart, or met the soldiers who were suffering from inadequate outpatient care elsewhere in the complex. When you were shown a nice new room today, how do you know conditions "elsewhere" are any better?

[Hugin]

7. Yet, they forge ahead with the privatization of the DoD...

Nothing has been learned.

The thought of someone making a 'guaranteed profit' off of the suffering of
American Troops... Sickens me beyond reason.

It's disgusting what's being done... For purely partisan political reasons as
it turns out.

[still_one]

8. Best care for our troops, OUT OF IRAQ NOW /nt

[bamacrat]

9. Could it get worse?

[tazkcmo]

10. And when you thought it couldn't get any worse...

You've had your legs blown off, flown from Iraq to Germany then to Walter Reed accompanied all along the way with excruciating pain and the emotional turmoil of having lost your legs, laid in piss, mold and rat feces and then Bush promises to help. I think he's done enough "helping".

[lpbk2713]

11. He might have told Halliburton to lighten up on the sewage water

that they made the troops drink. That's the BushCo concept of 'better care'.

[natrat]

12. he should send his shitty offspring over there

[MotorCityMan]

13. Yeah, * has promised LOTS of things

Starting back many moons ago with bringing honor and integrity back to the White House.

[tanyev]

14. Yeah. Right after he gets Osama Bin Laden and rebuilds New Orleans.

[Heidi]

15. Kick.

:kick:

[rodeodance]

16. Bush vows to fix problems at Walter Reed

Source: ap



Bush vows to fix problems at Walter Reed

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush apologized to troops face to face on Friday for shoddy conditions they have endured at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He shook the artificial hand of a lieutenant and cradled a newborn whose daddy is nursing his remaining, severely injured leg back to health.


"The problems at Walter Reed were caused by bureaucratic and administrative failures," Bush said during a nearly three-hour visit to the medical center — his first since reports surfaced of shabby conditions for veterans in outpatient housing. "The system failed you and it failed our troops, and we're going to fix it."

News that war veterans were not getting adequate care stunned the public, outraged Capitol Hill and forced three high-level Pentagon officials to step down. Bush met with soldiers once housed in Building 18, who endured moldy walls, rodents and other problems that went unchecked until reported by the media.

"I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong," Bush said. "It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we're going to fix the problem."

He did not visit Building 18, which is now closed.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070331/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=AilAqziat_nYvvBccN5VlWys0NUE

---

Well, folks, Bush vowed to fix New Orleans (as he stood in Jackson Square).

[saltpoint]

17. The manager of the Ford's Theater promised to look into security problems

after that incident with the Lincolns, too.

According to NPR News, Bush didn't even bother to go to Building 18.

[mloutre]

21. Oh, but he did. He even hired security consultants. And what they told him to do was...

...to build higher railings around the V.I.P. boxes to prevent any future assassins from jumping down to the stage and escaping like Booth did.

Of course, they also suggested establishing a Department of Farmland Security to prevent any future assassins from taking refuge in barns after jumping to the stage and escaping, too.

(The latter suggestion was lobbied for quite heavily by farmland fire insurance companies from their offices on K Street.)

[saltpoint]

22. !! LOL! Those K Street folks are nothing if not persistent.

Good morning to you, good person.

[soothsayer]

18. why fix that old rat hole when they are building a new joint?

[salin]

19. So jr., are you also going to deal with adequately funding the

VA facilities - and how about looking into how the US Army's process for rating disabilities compared to the other service's process (Army has much lower ratings given.) Those issues are directly related to the care received by those who have worn "our uniform".

[Botany]

20. on his list to fix / rebuild

New Orleans
Mississippi
Alabama
Iraq
building @ ground zero (not all his fault)
u.s. public school system
security U.S. Mexican border
Afghanistan

his to do list
find bin Laden
Democracy in Iraq
Democracy in the Middle East
decrease the threat of terrorists and actual terror attacks
decrease foreign oil use in the U.S.