NEWSU.S. Army in disarray over Walter Reed scandal, complaints
BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The U.S. Walter Reed army medical center scandal has shocked Washington and left leadership of the Army in disarray and facing complaints across the country.
The Washington Post reported last month that dozens of recuperating soldiers live in dirty and pest-infested housing at Walter Reed and that hundreds have faced daunting bureaucratic obstacles to obtaining follow-up care for their injuries.
On Monday members of Congress reacted with dismay to the stories of wounded soldiers and one wife about the excruciating red-tape-delayed medical attention for outpatients and terrible living conditions they have been subjected to, in contentious hearings at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.
The lawmakers said dilapidated housing and excessive red tape are problems beyond Walter Reed, underscoring how recent revelations about the hospital have become a metaphor for broader concerns about the government's treatment of soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They also demanded action while military leaders ?a and Vice President Dick Cheney ?a promised they'd get it.
Representative John Tierney said the shortcomings in the housing and treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center exist throughout the military health-care system.
"We need a sustained focus here, and much more needs to be done," he said, adding that charges of bureaucratic delays and poor treatment there have produced calls in Congress for quick reform.
"These problems go well beyond the walls of Walter Reed," he stated, "As we send more and more troops into Iraq and Afghanistan, these problems are only going to get worse."
Representative Henry Waxman, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, said that the exposure of poor treatment at the center has sparked complaints from injured veterans and their families across the country.
A big question for lawmakers ?a left largely unanswered Monday ?a was what Army officials knew about the problems before a series of articles last month by The Washington Post shined a spotlight on them, and whether they chose to ignore them.
On March 1, Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey fired Walter Reed Hospital's director, Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman and replaced him with Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker. The very next day, new Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired Harvey too.