After 9/11, the American public voted for conservatives because they believed they would do a better job in fighting the terrorists. And they believed the hype that conservatives care about the troops while liberals and progressives don't. But by 2006, the growing catastrophe in Iraq, along with the abandonment of New Orleans and the obvious stench of corruption that was afflicting the conservatives in power, woke enough people up to make a change in both the House and the Senate.
Yet we are just starting to understand the full extent of corruption that was unleashed under Bush and the banner of Conservative ideology. Every day there is another more outrageous and enraging story that is peeling back the secrecy to expose the truly obscene level that these guys will go to in enriching their friends and cronies on our blood and our treasure. The Walter Reed story puts to bed for once and for all any idea that Bush and the depraved people he has put in power can ever be thought to "support the troops." In fact, this story proves that for Bush and his fellow travelers, the troops are yet another set of suckers to prey on.
Because of the incredible reporting by Dana Priest and her colleague, Anne Hull, everyone knows that the conditions our wounded vets are having to endure at Walter Reed are deplorable. Finally this story is getting the exposure it needs.
But what we need now are stories that connect the dots to show that it is the Conservative ideology that is responsible for the situation at Walter Reed and not just incompetence. Conservatives preach the gospel of the market place and how government can never do anything as well as the private sector. And when they get their hands on the government, they privatize every aspect they can by handing out contracts to their friends who are waiting for their chance to feed at the trough. No need to provide services for the contracts when there isn't any oversight.
Rep. Henry Waxman has issued a subpoena to have Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman come to answer some questions about why things are so disgraceful in this hospital. Here's what Waxman is going to be looking into:
- Who decided to give IAP Worldwide Services the contract to run Walter Reed?
- Why did IAP, whose chairman, Al Neffgen, a former executive of Halliburton, get the contract?
- Why did the Army "unilaterally" increase the government cost to run Walter Reed by $7 million, making the government bid to run the hospital higher than the IAP bid?
- Why did the Army give IAP the contract after IAP failed so miserably in fulfilling its previous government contract to deliver ice to New Orleans after Katrina?
- Why did more than 250 out of some 300 government employees at Walter Reed leave after IPA got the contract?
- What is IPA doing for the $120 Million contract?
- When Donald Rumsfeld found out from his wife that things were getting bad at Walter Reed, did he even bother to look into the problem?
We need the answer to these questions.
And the American public must finally hear that it is not just incompetence that is causing this problem.
It is the mindset of Bush and the conservatives that is causing the problem.
In their eyes, the only thing that matters is power. In their minds, the rich deserve to have more because they are better than everyone else and they don't have to share anything. None of their wealth. Not the hard times. Not the cost of war. Not the loss of rights. They do these things because they believe the rest of us are their vassals and they have the right to do anything, including waging war on the backs of someone else.
They are preying on our troops to enrich their friends. But this should not be surprising because that is what the war profiteers always do.
Also read smintheus's post which goes into much greater detail about how the privatization racket works.
Here's Henry Waxman's letter to Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman laying out the area of questions that will be asked in the hearing.
Comments (1)
Mary,
You hit the nail on the head. As a former resident of the Armed Forces Retirement Home at Gulfport, I am grateful for your story, and hope that one day soon an investigation that really digs into the nitty gritty of the AFRH management takes place. We suffer the same; we're the older military retirees from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and a host of other lesser conflicts (lesser does not mean we did not sacrifice any less). The story at AFRH is much bigger than that of Walter Reed, as it involves insult and injury to active duty and retired alike. Look at this document:
http://www.dodig.osd.mil/fo/foia/ERR/H05L95546042.pdf
LtCol VanDyke was treated in the most callous manner, tortured, and forced out of her position as Deputy Director only because of her military credentials and higher standards.
Jim Pankey, USN (Ret.)
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March 26, 2007 11:38 AM
Posted on March 26, 2007 11:38