Scandalous treatment of Veterans
Right before Christmas, President Bush headed to Walter Reed Hospital for a photo shoot. Surrounded by an audience of soldiers who'd been seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush proclaimed: "We owe them all that we can give them, not only when they're in harm's way, but when they come home to help them adjust if they have wounds." Yet soldiers who have suffered catastrophic injuries have not returned to a hero's treatment. Rather, they have been dumped at Walter Reed and other military hospitals around the country. They have been left to recover in rooms infested with mice and roaches, where walls and ceilings are falling apart and covered with mold. These are abysmal conditions that we wouldn't tolerate for a killer on Death Row. How could we, as a nation, treat a wounded soldier with such disrespect? Instead of doing everything possible to help these grievously injured young men and women begin to piece together their shattered lives, arrogant army brass and Veterans Affairs officials have made them jump through hoops to get the help they so desperately need.
