Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley — the former commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center — has submitted a letter of retirement effective immediately.

CNN reports:
Kiley has decided to submit his resignation, saying it should not be about one doctor, and he wants to clear the way for the Army to get a grip on this scandal. He said before that he thought he had the skills to help fix the problem, but again, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley now submitting his resignation, submitting to the pressure to clear the way for a whole new leadership. And now a new surgeon general will have to be appointed, confirmed by the Senate, and approved by President Bush.
UPDATE: NBC News Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports that Kiley may be demoted in retirement:
Well, today the Army announced that he has announced his decision to retire, and…it’s very likely that he would be reduced in retirement, at least one rank. Many in the Army speculated as early as last week that Lt. Gen. Kiley would be forced to step down — he’s doing it voluntarily, of course, but under considerable pressure, not only from Capitol Hill, but from within the military itself — and it’s likely now that he could be forced to retire at that two-star level.
UPDATE II: CNN Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre says that acting Army Secretary Pete Garem “actually asked Kiley to step down, a move that was approved by Secretary of Defense Gates. However, it may have been Kiley’s decision to ask for an immediate retirement instead of remaining in the Army at his post.”
Some highlights of his tenure uncovered over the past few weeks:
– Kiley allowed a wounded soldier to sleep in his own urine even though he was begged to do something about it by a congressman’s wife.
– Kiley blamed the Walter Reed conditions on “a failure of leadership at the junior level in that building.”
– Kiley ripped the Washington Post’s revelation of the squalor at Walter Reed as “yellow journalism.”
“Asked to retire.”
After what he’s done (and failed to do), I don’t believe ‘retirement’ is really a suitable punishment…
March 12th, 2007 at 12:36 pmMy guess is that he got a better offer from a little start-up company in Dubai.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:37 pmYet another rat fleeing the sinking ship that is the Bush administration.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pmSo when is his lavish going away party scheduled? Will it have shrimp cocktail? The party planners at Walter Reed are really getting a lot work lately.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:40 pmgood riddance to the heatless f*ck
March 12th, 2007 at 12:41 pmI hope karma catches this coward sooner than later.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:41 pm#2 Tuber
March 12th, 2007 at 12:42 pmIAWTC… as sick as disgusting as the assumption is you’re probably correct
And like that…the problem is gone.
Resigning must be like repenting of sins. You do it and suddenly you are good again.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:42 pm#4#
So when is his lavish going away party scheduled? Will it have shrimp cocktail? The party planners at Walter Reed are really getting a lot work lately.
Comment by dlet — March 12, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
The sickest part is your probably right on the money.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:43 pmCan we get in line to urinate on this clown?
March 12th, 2007 at 12:44 pmGoodbye and may you never have a peaceful day in your life.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:45 pmCNN is reporting now that Kiley was actually fired…..im dizzy.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:47 pmTHose deck chairs look much better now, the ocean still looks like its getting closer.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:48 pmMedal of freedom is being ordered as we speak.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:49 pmIf there is any justice in this world, this creep should have his pension stripped and be demoted on his way out the door.
I hope there is a special place reserved for him in hell for what he has done to these young people who have sacrificed not only their lives in this horrid war but have now mortgaged their futures to a government that doesn’t give a fiddler’s fart about them once they are hurt and in the hospitals.
It is a shame and a national disgrace. To be honest, how do these so called “value voters” and these people who put them in harms way from Bush, Cheney, and the rest, even sleep at night–much less look themselves in the mirror.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:52 pmDon’t let the door hit your ass, Kiley.
Oh thank goodness, all the problems at Walter Reed, and every other military hospital are now solved.
Yeah, right……
Don’t stop reporting now, Breathless…
March 12th, 2007 at 12:54 pmThis man needed to be fired not resigned. Lets hope he was fired and striped of his rank. No retirement pay.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:54 pmBuh, bye – now piss off.
March 12th, 2007 at 12:55 pm“Nothing was ever my fault, and I’m resigning so people quit asking me questions about my job” -Gen. Lt. Riley
Glad to see him gone. But the real problem is a Halliburton subsidiary contracting all duties other than medical.
Will that contract be null & void when the parent company moves to Dubai?
Will that contract ever see any sunshine by outsiders?
Will Kiley now be promoted to Halliburton?
Stay tuned, folks, this comic strip is now a daily!
March 12th, 2007 at 12:55 pmGood and now Bush & Cheney must resign too!
March 12th, 2007 at 1:00 pmThey said “Your in the Army now”.
He thought it was
“URINE the Army”.
Good riddance.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:00 pm[...] See also another breaking news: Kiley Resigns [...]
March 12th, 2007 at 1:08 pm17 Months More War Is Outrageous
Monday 12th of March 2007
by Jay Randal
The American voters sent a message to the Congress, last November Election 2006, that Iraq War must end.
For the DC Democratic leadership to claim the fiasco can continue for another 17 months is very outrageous.
17 more months of death and destruction in Iraq will mean another 1,500 US soldiers killed in dire debacle.
Also another 15,000 to 16,000 wounded, or maimed, so very high price to pay to not end the war this year.
Bad enough that 6 more months of war in Iraq would mean another 500+ killed and 5,000 wounded as well.
If the war ended by January 12, 2008, that represents another 900+ killed and about 9,000+ wounded/maimed.
If the war continues for the rest of Pres. Bush’s term, in office, about 2,000 killed and approx. 20,000 wounded.
The Iraq Fiasco War must be ended ASAP, and NOT extended into 2008 election season, so end war NOW.
( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Georgia, USA.)
March 12th, 2007 at 1:13 pmComment by mparker….
Priceless! LOL
March 12th, 2007 at 1:13 pm“Kiley has decided to submit his resignation, saying it should not be about one doctor“
Funny, but I thought it was exactly because he had stripped down staff to just one doctor that he got fired.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:17 pmLet’s hope the military gives him all the respect he deserves, a big pile of piss for him to wallow in. Hey you veterans please remember to help us with that if you run into this bastard.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:20 pmEnjoy your retirement Mr Kiley.
I don’t know if you guys and gals here ever do this, but sometimes I see something that really makes me wonder.
Just as I have feared
my sins have come back to haunt
me and it I cannot bear (sic)
I saw this, above, today scribbled on a park benchtop.
I wondered if this person whom was concerned about being haunted by their sins, thought about defacing public property….
Is this world like crazy or what?
March 12th, 2007 at 1:21 pmSo, the lesson here is;
Privatization killed the cat and resignation brought him back.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:26 pmKiley links Abu Graib & Walter Reed. From Scott Horton’s email:
some military doctors covered up detainee abuse — and even helped to plan it — at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and secret sites elsewhere. When these stories and others broke, many in military medicine were shocked and ashamed. They tried to talk about what had gone wrong — and what the rules should be at such places as Abu Ghraib — in the face of pressure to support the Bush administration’s few-holds-barred approach to detainees suspected of terrorism. But the Army’s top doctor, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, and his politically appointed civilian overlord, William Winkenwerder, both of whom now face congressional fire for the squalid treatment of rehabbing soldiers at Walter Reed, made it plain to their troops that they couldn’t talk about what went on at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo.” One Army doctor told me that Lt. Gen. Kiley’s career could be summarized in two words: “moral compromise.” He is the one name tightly connected both to the interrogation abuses at Guantanamo and the abysmal conditions at Walter Reed. Is it any wonder he rose right to the top?
March 12th, 2007 at 1:28 pmAnother day, another event in the continuing saga of the Bush administration meltdown.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:28 pmHallelujah, but that should be the beginning not the end.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:29 pmWill the Drum and Bugle Corps also be giving him a grand farewell? With the Democratic congressional heat coming down, I’ll bet they’ll be doing a lot of these gigs this year.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:31 pmGood riddance to bad rubbish…
…but WHY doesn’t he forfeit his pension?
…isn’t he guilty of criminal negligence?
March 12th, 2007 at 1:31 pmSecretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson must go next.
- Tom
March 12th, 2007 at 1:33 pmI wonder how the Right Wing Nut News will spin this as a good thing for the President that he is retiring in disgrace.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:34 pmJeeze, I feel terrible for him. Getting all demoted and stuff, just because journalists were picking on him. Bwaaah.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pmGood, progressing well…
March 12th, 2007 at 1:36 pmnow, when does “Brownie Syndrome” Nicholson turn in his resignation?
#33, Uh, Tom? Howza bout Darth and chympie next?
March 12th, 2007 at 1:38 pmWhat a difference a Democratic congress makes! None of this would have happened last year. A good reminder that as frustrated as we get with our party, they are wa-a-a-ay better than the alternative.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:38 pmThe only thing yellow about this journalism is the piss soaked sheets and trolls.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:40 pm[...] Surgeon General Lt Gen Kevin Kiley, who testified before Congress submitted his resignation today over the scandal. Kiley, who had managed Walter Reed until 2004, resigned shortly after being [...]
March 12th, 2007 at 1:50 pmNothing is not my fault either. Now if your talking about questioning something thats nothing entirely different.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:52 pmNa Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye!
March 12th, 2007 at 1:55 pmAside from how lavish his retirement party will be, the other big question ought to be, who in the Hell is Bush gonna try to ram through as his replacement? Cause let’s face it, if Mengele donated enough money to the RNC, Bush would be talking about what a great Doc he’d be for the gig.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:56 pmCNN is still saying he was fired…Never being fired from a job I can’t say how it work’s but it would seem to me one should loose a pension and benefits when they are removed…What’s up with this.?…Blessings
March 12th, 2007 at 1:59 pmDang, if he had just quit sooner, he and Francis “The Talking Mule” Harvey could have had their get-out-of-jail…errr, retirement party…together, and saved the taxpayers some money! Ahhh, what’s the difference; now that I think about it, Bushco/Halliburton is going to swindle every last dime in the Treasury anyway. Can’t win for losin’ with this pack of Wolves (correct that, Wolves have some useful purpose in the wild, and to compare them to Bush/Cheney is extremely demeaning to Wolves).
March 12th, 2007 at 2:06 pmto loose pension benefits he has to be convicted by a court martial board and reduced in rank.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:09 pmNicholson is next…mark my words. I can’t wait until Kiley shows up for medical attention, in the sysyem he so badly damaged. He will get his comupance.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:17 pmI was fired from a grocery bagging job for eating a pickle. I get no pension from that.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:17 pmComment by Zooey — March 12, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
Actually, I hope th edoor DOES hit him in the ass. the door of a Hummer at about 80 mph.
He could get treatment at Walter Reed. I am sure he could get a room in Bldg 18.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:21 pmI’ve been told from a Vietnam vet that Walter Reed has been that way for maaaaaany years.
So sad.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:33 pmMY MY MY but you are all a vicious lot. 1) Reed was scheduled for closure. 2) Each hospital command is funded by a limited budget…no exceptions. 3) Patient volume has skyrocketed and active patient care has priority over housing. So you tell me, does the amputee not get his prosthetic leg so we can spruce up living quarters or do we cut back on physical therapy so we can repaint the bathrooms. Commanders (read Ltg Kiley or Mg Weatherman ) MUST live within their allotted budget, if you ask me they are being scape goated for a system that until Bob Woodruff, (a journalist), piqued the “sympathy” of a liberal press, who themselves didn’t give a damn till one of their own nearly paid the ultimate price. I’ve served 3 tours at Reed…its always been a mess.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:23 pmComment by Klyde #45
klyde,
…under UCMJ…
…isn’t “dereliction of duty”…
…a court-martial offense?
March 12th, 2007 at 3:32 pmComment by Richard L. Veal — March 12, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Patient care and housing are from two different pools of money.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:41 pmPatient volume has skyrocketed and active patient care has priority over housing.
Comment by Richard L. Veal #50
So Veal (chop),
What was the rush…
…to go to war…
…when all of the right wing RETARDS…
…supposedly “knew” that “Clinton” (and the REPUBLICAN-led Congress he had to compromise with)…
…had “defunded” the military…
…and why didn’t Bushiva, L’il Dick and Dummy Rummy know…
…that the military’s medical facilities…
…especially Walter Reed where the most seriously wounded would go to…
…wasn’t up to par?
…BEFORE the illegal invasion/now occupation for Halliburton’s profit margin and the greater glory of Bushiva and his criminal cabal?
March 12th, 2007 at 3:43 pmcan’t wait to see the horrendous BushBubble burst …wear a raincoat and hard hat there will crap scattered all over SHOCK AND AWE style!
March 12th, 2007 at 4:03 pmActually, I hope th edoor DOES hit him in the ass. the door of a Hummer at about 80 mph.
He could get treatment at Walter Reed. I am sure he could get a room in Bldg 18.
Comment by hacker bob
I had to specify a door? Oh well….
You’ve picked up my slack quite nicely. :)
March 12th, 2007 at 4:27 pmNot to split hairs, but shouldn’t there be quotation marks surrounding the word “retire?”
March 12th, 2007 at 4:51 pmBREAKING: Kiley Resigns
He was told it would look better on his resume no doubt, versus firing.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:41 pmThere is some good news out of this: Major General Gale Pollock has been appointed acting Surgeon General. MG Pollock is a registered nurse, who is a certified nurse anesthetist and a healthcare administrator. She has been active clinically, administratively and operationally.
Nursing is at the nexus of healthcare, and Pollock’s appointment will allow nursing to be visible and included as the military healthcare mess gets sorted out and remedied.
It would be helpful if acting Army secretary Geren would nominate her to Bush and the Senate for confirmation as the permanent Surgeon General.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pmHello Rachel, glad to see your feeling better. =)
Heh Zooey
…a doorknob wet with superglue blistering along up and around the speed of light.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pmSo, how much will this arrogant, heartless bastard earn in his glorious retirement? Will he have a nice chauffered limousine to carry him around? I’ll bet he won’t have to fill out any paperwork or stand in line to be attended to in any military hospital. Perhaps those of his ilk have their own “special” health plan to provide good care, as do the elite members of our wonderful do-nothing congress.
March 12th, 2007 at 7:48 pmI told you Rachel was Jesus… risen from the dead!!!!
March 12th, 2007 at 8:08 pm…a doorknob wet with superglue blistering along up and around the speed of light.
Comment by Crazy Eddie — March 12, 2007 @ 6:06 pm
Huh? Am i being dense here??? Not a lot of sleep or time off lately, let me know why I am not getting the joke…
Like your posts CE! You amuse me.
March 12th, 2007 at 8:10 pmHuh? Am i being dense here??? Not a lot of sleep or time off lately, let me know why I am not getting the joke…
Like your posts CE! You amuse me.
Comment by SKdeA
CE’s doorknob is attached to the door of hacker bob’s Hummer going 80 mph. I neglected to specify a door when I said Kiley should not let it hit his ass when he left. :-D
March 12th, 2007 at 8:50 pmReed was scheduled for closure.
Huh? Walter Reed is going to be closed?? No, I don’t think you meant that…or did Fox News tell you that?
By the way, how many Walter Reed/IAP staff members does it take to change a light bulb?
Nobody fricking knows because it has never happened (maybe not funny, definitely true).
March 12th, 2007 at 9:40 pm[...] lackies have the same view of supporting the military as George Bush and Darth Cheney, BREAKING: Kiley Resigns Some highlights of his tenure uncovered over the past few [...]
March 13th, 2007 at 1:27 amABOUT TIME THIS MISERABLE LEPER-LICKING SHITHEEL Kiley WAS GIVEN THE BOOT–WHAT A DISGUSTING, ODIOUS, PIECE OF HYENA-SHIT and LEPROUS SEWER-RAT Kiley is–BOMBASTIC IMBECILE! SOCIOPATHIC DOLT! MURDEROUS BUTCHER! WE HAVE TO FOLLOW AFTER Kiley TO WHATEVER JOB HE MIGHT SNUGGLE INTO AND TURN UP THE FIRE SO HE DOESN’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE ELSE HE MIGHT COMMIT SOME OTHER MISCHIEF IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR–SCUMSHIT LIKE Kiley MUST BE CLOSELY MONITORED AND KEPT AFTER UNTIL THEY SELF-DESTRUCT IN THEIR OWN CALUMNY AND SHAME, DESERVEDLY SO, OF COURSE!!!!!
March 13th, 2007 at 8:42 pm