Remember, there’s a norm in the military that problems should be solved at the lowest feasible level of command. Any problems at WRAMC, given the then-manageable casualty rate (mid-2004), would in the ordinary course of things have been handled at the WRAMC commander’s level unless he needed more resources, in which case he would have approached Peake for them. We have no evidence one way or the other that he did or did not approach Peake for further resources.

That being said, how much of the Walter Reid problems were active during Peake’s watch ?

First, Peake was the Surgeon General of the Army, not the commander of Walter Reed, and that was only until July 2004, long before the scandal became the scandal (in 2004, recall, there had still been less than 700 KIA in the war). The SG of the Army is in charge of what is called AMEDD, which runs the entire army medical system, including training and all hospitals.

For the Head Vet, Peake has solid qualifications, by army standards. He was wounded twice as a combat infantryman in Vietnam and was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with V for Valor. He was a paratrooper, a Pathfinder, and he commanded the three medical units that are generally considered to be the best in the army.

His c.v. as a physician seems good as well, at least judging by the standards my father held. Cornell, board certified chest surgeon, peer-reviewed publications.

I don’t know if he’s a loyal Bushie or not (I suspect he is) but he doesn’t appear to be another Brownie, either.

Just the skeletons of War Wounded who died from ( lack of ) care at Walter Reed, under his supervision. We will see if the Senators think this is major or not. I will be watching this one closely to see who votes for this hack.

Bush is showing his real love for veterans nominating this POS for the VA.

Comment by bob h — October 30, 2007 @ 11:39 am

Uh… and just exactly WHERE would he be shoving that perp?

Just asking?

/sarc off

Thank you. Hopefully Reid will use the same technique as he did in August and call the Senate into session just long enough to force the president to send his nominees who need confirmation to the chamber, hence preventing recess appointments. If Reid does this, and the Senate still doesn’t grant approval, it still prevents Bush from granting a recess appointment.

If the Senate fails to confirm Dr. Peake before it goes into recess for the remainder of the year — mid-November — then the President can make a recess appointment and Dr. Peake would serve until the expiration of the 110th Congress at the end of next year.

Unless Peake has some major skeletons in his closet, he probably will be confirmed.

Comment by Amanda — October 30, 2007 @ 11:10 am
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Thank you.