Injured U.S. troops held in revolting conditions.
Injured U.S. troops held in revolting conditions.
The Washington Post reports:
Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan’s room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.
This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Sorry Spec Duncan, but Bush wants his throne room in the Iraqi Embassy to be carpeted in real gold thread… That costs lots of money. You’ll have to suffer in silence.
(sarcasm)
February 18th, 2007 at 1:49 pmi was reading this via crooks & liars earlier this morning…
February 18th, 2007 at 1:56 pmrevolting… more “support” those troops!…
Yes I have read that story in the Post. Bush Regime treats soldiers as cannon fodder, and when they get maimed, then they are treated like refuse to be thrown in the garbage dump. Bush and Cheney must be impeached > PERIOD.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:57 pmSad to say. Many local VA Hospitals are in similiar shape. Especially in your smaller to mid sized cities. Which is where most soldiers hail from or around.
Yes it is a national disgrace.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pmDisgusting and horrifying. Those injured troops should be moved to the White House, and the homes of all the members of Congress and Americans who continue to support this war.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pmKaty; I too read this story on another website. Apalling, disgusting, sickening. Yet Bush wants to cut medical care to our vets. No doubt his idea of ‘compassionate conservatism’ is to dump our wounded GIs out onto the street. Yea, that’s really ’supporting our troops’ alright. F*cking bastard.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pmWasn’t it Licoln himself who said something like this of the soldiers plight?
I don’t know the exact wording but the effect was something like this:
A nation shall be judged directly by the care it wounded soldiers recieve after a conflict.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pmWasn’t it Lincoln himself who said something like this of the soldiers plight?
I don’t know the exact wording but the effect was something like this:
A nation shall be judged directly by the care it wounded soldiers recieve after a conflict.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pmsorry for the dub post, typos and all!
February 18th, 2007 at 2:05 pmYea, that’s really ’supporting our troops’ alright. F*cking bastard.
Comment by Uncle Ho
Uncle Ho, do you have any idea if it was this bad in for the injured Viet Nam vets?
February 18th, 2007 at 2:06 pmGood idea > send the seriously maimed soldiers to be taken care of in the White House itself. The place would be filled with wounded soldiers and Bush would be forced to move out. Bush’s house in Texas is over 10,000 square feet of space, so turn it into a VA hospital too.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:10 pmZooey; One of the places I was at wasn’t bad. I was at Oak Knoll(Oakland) Naval Hospital, recently built back then c.1968. It was the Navy’s prosthetics center for Navy & Marine amputees, mainly coming back from Vietnam. One of my cousins who was also a Navy corpsman said that Philly and St. Albans(NYC) were really bad, but I never personally seen either of those two.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:22 pmIn fact Bush’s Crawford ranch has a few thousand acres of land. Turn the whole thing into a new VA hospital complex to take care of wounded soldiers coming back from the Iraq Fiasco War. Bush can move to his giant ranch in Paraguay with the entire Bush clan as well.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pmHey – where’s the Support the Troops crowd????
Not too proud of how Dubbie’s takin care of his soldiers?????
Or just pissed ’cause the truth is closing in on them from all directions???
Come on, ya fox-watchin bootlickers!! Where’s you outrage now???
February 18th, 2007 at 2:28 pmAnd yet HALIBURTON can steal billions from us in Iraq…
Exactly WHO doesnt give a crap about our fellow citizen soldiers other than using them for war profits?
February 18th, 2007 at 2:33 pmThanks, Uncle Ho. It’s terrible that we put vets through such hell — over there and back home. I’ve always thought vets should get free medical care for life. It’s the least we could do, right?
I’ve been to Oak Knoll hospital many, many times. It was busy all the time! I’ve even been to the prosthetics center there, although I don’t remember why now. My dad was stationed at the Navy base in Alameda, and on ships there for almost 10 years, when I was a teen.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:33 pmHere’s a set of resources to support the troops and their families.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:36 pmBush Regime only cares about the soldiers as long as they are able to be useful in Iraq. Once they are dead, or maimed, then they are a liability to Bush and cost money to take care of that he wants to steal for his war profiteering buddies.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:39 pm…vets should get free medical care for life. It’s theleast would could do, right?-comment by Zooey.
I hear that. I thought the SF/Oakland stint was the best duty station I ever had. Turned hippie in Haight-Ashbury.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pmThank, Angry One, that page is bookmarked.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:42 pmI demand to know where the flagwaver/mouthbreather contingent comes down on this one, or is it like incest, which they practice, but never admit to….”this little secret is just between you and daddy, honey. we must never speak of it to anyone, because they don’t understand our special, magic love”
RIGHTIES ARE SICKOS.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pmTurned hippie in Haight-Ashbury.
Comment by Uncle Ho
If I’d been a few years older, I would have too. :)
February 18th, 2007 at 2:46 pmAngry One; ditto. another bookmark for me.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:49 pmUncle Ho, if you’re still interested in facebook, Spudge Boy said you should click on his name to go to his blog, and then contact him by email. He said he can help you with any problems that way. :)
February 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pmand this is how our government shows their gratitude. i would hate to see what would happen if there was NO remorse……gulags, ooops, blacksites.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:19 pmZooey, Spudge; thanks, I will soon. Seems like the trolls are avoiding this thread like the plague. I can’t imagine why, they show up everywhere else.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pmUncle Ho,
That’s why I thought it would be safe to let you know about Spudge’s email here. Heh.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:31 pmYou know that such talk will just embolden the enemy. No wait, it will actually demoralize our troops. Oh noes! We need motre bumper stickers and T-shirts!!11!!
Big surprise of course. An article from WaPo I kept handy, “Who’s Paying for Our Patriotism?”, by Uwe E. Reinhardt, James Madison professor of political economy at Princeton University, Monday, August 1, 2005:
When our son, then a recent Princeton graduate, decided to join the Marine Corps in 2001, I advised him thus: “Do what you must, but be advised that, flourishing rhetoric notwithstanding, this nation will never truly honor your service, and it will condemn you to the bottom of the economic scrap heap should you ever get seriously wounded.” The intervening years have not changed my views; they have reaffirmed them.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:31 pm#Turned hippie in Haight-Ashbury.
Comment by Uncle Ho
If I’d been a few years older, I would have too. :)
Comment by Zooey — February 18, 2007 @ 2:46 pm
Zooey and I missed the boat! But I did my best – lived at Haight and Ashbury for 11 years! Cool hood.
Now I am in Oakland, and that hospital is closed. Once Treasure Island and Alameda naval bases closed, they shut it down.
This is a criminal way to treat out soldiers. We should be taking the route that the English did in WWII, turning the homes of the rich into sanitariums for the recovery of the wounded.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:40 pmSK -that’d be nice, except that our rich really don’t feel any sense of gratitude to the country that allowed them to earn/steal what they’ve got. they’re truly not-Americans, who only want to vacation overseas and live in special places walled away from the rest of us the rest of the time….
February 18th, 2007 at 3:53 pmSkdeA, Zooey. Too bad you missed the boat. In many ways, those were great times and would not trade it for any other decade(despite the many other bummers we had then). There are others who still hang on. check out http://www.hippieshop.com or http://www.thenewbohemian, or the 2nd annual hippiefest in 2007 if you can. google hippie. we are still out there.
gottta split for a while. shower and http://www.bluenovember.org meeting to plan our next protest/civil disobedience. ciao.
February 18th, 2007 at 3:54 pmI have read this article by Dana Priest (she is the one who broke the story about the secret prisons, won a Pulitzer, and was publicly chastised by Bush&Co).
February 18th, 2007 at 4:02 pmThis article points to the inexcusable and unconscionable treatment of veterans in this country. Bush has already cut funding for veterans, and plans to cut more — I can’t bear to think of how much worse conditions can get before Bush is thrown out on his ear.
Yes it is a national disgrace.
Comment by rachel — February 18, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
As I’ve said earlier, Rachel is capable of quality posts.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this with us, Rachel.
February 18th, 2007 at 4:17 pmComment by Uncle Ho — February 18, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
To be fair, Bush only proposed to cut the VA medical budget after he leaves office. That way, he can say he balanced the budget and the next President would have to either go with Bush’s cuts, cut spending on other social programs, or raise taxes. Bush can then go down in history as the only President to fight a war while passing massive tax breaks to the rich and still balance the budget through the elimination of “wasteful government spending” i.e. social programs.
February 18th, 2007 at 4:23 pmGood idea > send the seriously maimed soldiers to be taken care of in the White House itself. The place would be filled with wounded soldiers and Bush would be forced to move out. Bush’s house in Texas is over 10,000 square feet of space, so turn it into a VA hospital too.
Comment by Jay Randal — February 18, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
Jay,
We may have to convert the WH grounds to a Bush War graveyard. You know, like the Union did to Lee’s home when they created Arlington Cemetary.
February 18th, 2007 at 5:23 pmComment by El Tonno #28
Great post El…
…that about sums it up…
…just ask Max Cleland, and Jack Murtha…
February 18th, 2007 at 5:39 pmWe may have to convert the WH grounds to a Bush War graveyard. You know, like the Union did to Lee’s home when they created Arlington Cemetary.
Comment by dixie blood — February 18, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Best post I’ve seen all day. Great idea!
February 18th, 2007 at 5:41 pm#35 We may have to convert the WH grounds to a Bush War graveyard. You know, like the Union did to Lee’s home when they created Arlington Cemetary.
Comment by dixie blood
Yes, Iagree, with one change — I’d like to see it built in Crawford Texas. There should be a memorial in DC, but the ghosts of the dead should haunt Bush every day of his f**kin’ life.
February 18th, 2007 at 6:47 pmEl T.; one WWII vet summed it up better than I could, if memory serves; “you can find sympathy in the dictionary between shit and syphillis”.
February 18th, 2007 at 6:50 pmbig papa; you forgot to include Ron Kovics.
February 18th, 2007 at 6:51 pmNow he can see what he’s fighting for. Wonder if he’ll be in a hurry to get back to the front and do his part.
February 18th, 2007 at 7:41 pmRegular posters here know this is the type of thing I have been complaining about since forever and a day ago. The Republicans and the Bush administration don’t give a damn about the troops, the wounded, the vets. Anyone who supports Bush, does not give a damn about the troops, because this is the way they have been treated all along.
This story is just the tip of the real story that MSN and congress has been ignoring for the last 6 years since Bushco has been in power. Yeah I blame the Democrats that have been too silent on this issue too.
February 18th, 2007 at 7:54 pmThis story is just the tip of the real story that MSN and congress has been ignoring for the last 6 years since Bushco has been in power. Yeah I blame the Democrats that have been too silent on this issue too.
Comment by Wayne
Right, so you should.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:05 pmWhat a goddamn disgrace this administration is.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:08 pmgeorge w bush is a user type of guy.
Who’s listening to the troops plight?
February 18th, 2007 at 8:28 pmI bet Murtha is.
So we’ve got “The Penguin” above this thread, and “The Joker,” Darren, and Vince P, below. How is it those idiots miss this thread?
February 18th, 2007 at 8:31 pmBrit Hume isn’t the type to dig into the meat of this issue.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:35 pmMSM doesn’t care either.
How is it those idiots miss this thread?
Comment by Zooey
Because they have no defence on the thread at all. The cowards. Yet they will go on defending Bush in the other threads and pretend this one does not exhist.
The f*ckwads think they can have it both ways. They have no Honor.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:36 pmThe f*ckwads think they can have it both ways. They have no Honor.
Comment by Wayne
Nail. On. Head.
They’re just piss-soaked trolls.
February 18th, 2007 at 8:42 pmThat includes you, Seixon, you slimey lurker.
That includes you, Seixon, you slimey lurker.
Comment by Zooey
Seixon and exley, both who debated with me previosly on veteran issues, defending Bush.
If either had any honor they would now post condemning Bush over this. But they won’t
February 18th, 2007 at 8:57 pmWayne,
Seixon and Exley have a lot of nerve debating veteran issues at all. Especially if they were promoting the status quo.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:02 pmWayne; Seixon & exley have no honor. keyboard commandos who don’t have the balls to put their bodies where their mouths are. cowardly chickenhawks all.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:05 pmThis was written in 2003. Too bad it has only been blogs and veteran groups writing on this issue since Bush has been in office.
http://eatthestate.org/08-06/HowAmericaSupports.htm
February 18th, 2007 at 9:10 pmSeixon will not come on here because he is a 25 year old American living in Norway. He is physically fit and should be in the US military fighting in Iraq for the Bush Regime, but like most Iraq war defenders he will never join up to fight.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:13 pmHey Uncle Ho, how’s it going?
I was discussing this issue, or trying to, with my dad at lunch today. He simply would not, or could not, believe what I was telling him. He believes that veterans get the best of everything they need. I told him that he really has no idea, since he doesn’t have to rely on his veteran benefits for his health care, and he needs to actually look into it, rather than just thinking things are a certain way — especially these days. Then it was just me stirring things up because I hate GWB. *eyes rolling* I sent him the WaPo article, and I hope he reads it. So frustrating….
February 18th, 2007 at 9:17 pmZooey; I hear you. I hope your father reads the article. I hate GWB too. To support GWB is no different than when “the good Germans” supported their fuhrer.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:32 pmUncle Ho,
Thanks for that. I don’t know why he’s so entrenched in this attitude. He’s been a lawyer and a judge since he retired from the Navy, so you’d think he’d be more openminded.
I’ve got a brother-in-law my dad’s really close to, and he’s retired Navy too. He’s a fundie, and one of those “you can’t criticize the president during a time of war” types. I’d like to thump him on the head and dump him in the river.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:37 pmZooey; name your poison for your brother-in-law; baseball bat or rubber mallet. knock some sense into him, call it ‘an attitude adjustment’.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:44 pmHeh, Uncle Ho. I think I’d choose the rubber mallet. No sense throwing out my shoulder.
Exley reminds me of my bro-in-law — so self-satisfied. But I know if I scratched the surface, there’s something ugly under there, like an online porn addiction.
February 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pmZooey; a brother-in-law like exlax? Ewwww. time to disown part of the family. I feel your pain.
I’m turning in. Good luck & g’night Zoo.
February 18th, 2007 at 10:06 pmI think they’ve disowned me! Goodnight, Uncle Ho.
February 18th, 2007 at 10:07 pmhttp://taliaferro.net/closure/page7.html
Some VA hospitals in shocking shape
VA Hospital closures are on the mind of just about all veterans and soldiers … While the majority of care is good, in a big system, bad things happen.” …
———————————————————-
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132383&page=1
ABC News: Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape
Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape. … Man With Twin Living Inside Him– A Medical Mystery Classic · Why Praise Can Be Bad for Kids …
———————————————————–
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041104J.shtml
Report Rips V.A. Hospital Care
We take care of 7 million veterans. While the majority of care is good, … At one point, Bell’s infection got so bad that the hospital used maggots to try …
February 18th, 2007 at 10:23 pm————————————————————
http://taliaferro.net/closure/page7.html
Some VA hospitals in shocking shape
VA Hospital closures are on the mind of just about all veterans and soldiers … While the majority of care is good, in a big system, bad things happen.” …
———————————————————-
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132383&page=1
ABC News: Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape
Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape. … Man With Twin Living Inside Him– A Medical Mystery Classic · Why Praise Can Be Bad for Kids …
———————————————————–
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041104J.shtml
Report Rips V.A. Hospital Care
We take care of 7 million veterans. While the majority of care is good, … At one point, Bell’s infection got so bad that the hospital used maggots to try …
February 18th, 2007 at 10:31 pm————————————————————
Not to worry, all we have to do is hurry to our nearest store and buy one of those “Support the troops” magnets for our SUVs (magnets, not stickers; we wouldn’t want the paint damaged).
That should make it all better. No need to do any more.
/sarcasm off
On a more serious note, this is an outrage. It makes me so angry to think that those “Support the troops” nitwits never bother their pretty little heads with the consequences of their decision to support Pres Bush and this immoral occupation.
It makes me even more angry to think of all those Iraqis who don’t have access to the same health care services Americans do. Theirs will be a broken, dysfunctional society for decades to come.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:25 amThese guys aren’t “troops” any longer, just vets. Bush and the Republicans never promised to support the vets. Now that they can’t fight any longer, and aren’t “productive,” they’re just a drag on the budget and the economy. So, per Bush & al, screw ‘em.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:42 amWhat Americans need are more tax cuts!
February 19th, 2007 at 5:45 amWhat Americans need are more tax cuts!
Comment by doug
So early yet this a.m.
Most posters here include a sarcasm/on/off warning when being coy or flippant. You”ll learn.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:51 amExley reminds me of my bro-in-law — so self-satisfied. But I know if I scratched the surface, there’s something ugly under there, like an online porn addiction.
Comment by Zooey
People who are so self-satisfied, pompously confident and the like, are really, very very insecure; thats why they have to show the I-know-it-all disguise. People who never question their surroundings and themselves are heading to an psychological outburst cuz you can lie others, but you cant lie yourself. And if you lie too much to yourself, you will harm yourself.
Personally I found people who think never make a mistake extremely boring, plane and fragile. Your brother-in-law must be like that.
February 19th, 2007 at 10:29 amPersonally I found people who think never make a mistake extremely boring, plane and fragile. Your brother-in-law must be like that.
Comment by Juan C
Exactly like that, Juan. I think when his outburst comes, it will be a big one!
February 19th, 2007 at 11:21 amLucky him, that has a bed in a hospital to heal. Most iraqis don’t have those luxuries.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:23 pmWith FRIENDS like THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? WE ARE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT AND AID OUR WOUNDED HEROES, NOT CONTAMINATE AND INFECT THEM!!!!! A COMPLETE OVERHAUL AND CLEANING UP OF SUCH REVOLTING CONDITIONS IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN!!!!! ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE LIKE “It’s lucky they have beds to lie upon” SHOULD BE WHIPPED WITHIN AN INCH OF THEIR MISERABLE LIVES!!!!!
February 20th, 2007 at 7:53 pm