Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Louise Slaughter Defends Wounded Vets Against Department of Defense Retaliation (11:56 am)
Jesse Lee at The Gavel (Speaker Pelosi’s blog) reports on the statement by Rep. Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee:
“The only acceptable course of action for our military and civilian leaders to take is to fully and openly address any and all concerns regarding veterans’ facilities nation-wide,” Congresswoman Slaughter continued. “Any attempt to silence the very soldiers who brought their own mistreatment to light, or to hide ongoing abuses from the public eye - if such attempts are occurring - would be morally reprehensible. It would be an abdication of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of our government: the protection of those who have fought to protect us.”
“Secretary Gates should act on the same principals of accountability and responsibility he so recently advocated and address these reports immediately. As a nation, we need to be honest about the care our veterans are receiving. Their enormous sacrifice demands nothing less.”
posted by Brian Zick
Reader Comments
More U.S. soldiers than ever are sustaining serious brain injuries in Iraq. But a significant number of them are being misdiagnosed, forced to wait for treatment or even being called liars by the Army. plavix
posted by me on 6-20-07 at 10:50 AM
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This has been going on for years. Democrats have been in the know about this from the beginning but it takes a Wash. Post report to force them to respond! Her reaction looks like a PR statement.
http://www.commondreams.org reported in 2004 about poor treatment: “An Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran says Army officials at Fort Knox, Ky., refused him medical treatment after he talked publicly about poor care at the base, which helped spark hearings in Congress.”
Congresswoman Slaughter and other Democrats should not just shove the blame elsewhere and do nothing.
Here’s another vet with a sad story to tell about his experience at Walter Reed in 2005: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/01/05/brain_trauma/
posted by John Burgess on 3-2-07 at 4:03 AM