When it was his turn to speak, Shinseki vowed to remain in office as long as he has President Obama’s support. He told the lawmakers that the allegations of impropriety made him “mad as hell.”...
...Phoenix and Fort Collins, Colo., used elaborate schemes to hide the records of patients who waited months for care....
Gen. George Weightman, the administrator at Walter Reed resigned when the scandal broke there. This issue in Pheonix and Fort Collins, Colorado is more than a scandal as there are allogations of 40 deaths of our veterans. There are people who made the decision to skirt their responsibilities and people died. They must be held responsible. At the very least it is reckless endangerment.
Secretary Shinseki is not the man who decided it was okay to put our veterans in danger by postponing their treatment. Secretary Shinseki was the one person most responsible for changing the system to decrease the 'wait time.'
This episode in Phoenix and Fort Collins speaks more to the culture that permits this level of mismanagement. How is it the administrators of the VA actually thinks they don't have to actually carry out the law? Secretary Shinseki didn't make the decision to decrease waiting times for political purposes. The country was experiencing a sincere problem as we were losing veterans to suicide. There are also complaints by veterans they are not receiving timely cancer treatment.
It is all too easy and convenient to blame a Secretary that as a General actually stood up to Bush/Cheney when it came to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
So, everyone can go back to their corners and regroup to pursue the individuals who are actually the arrogant SOBs who thought veteran lives were as disposable as Bush/Cheney did on the battlefield.
...Phoenix and Fort Collins, Colo., used elaborate schemes to hide the records of patients who waited months for care....
Gen. George Weightman, the administrator at Walter Reed resigned when the scandal broke there. This issue in Pheonix and Fort Collins, Colorado is more than a scandal as there are allogations of 40 deaths of our veterans. There are people who made the decision to skirt their responsibilities and people died. They must be held responsible. At the very least it is reckless endangerment.
Secretary Shinseki is not the man who decided it was okay to put our veterans in danger by postponing their treatment. Secretary Shinseki was the one person most responsible for changing the system to decrease the 'wait time.'
This episode in Phoenix and Fort Collins speaks more to the culture that permits this level of mismanagement. How is it the administrators of the VA actually thinks they don't have to actually carry out the law? Secretary Shinseki didn't make the decision to decrease waiting times for political purposes. The country was experiencing a sincere problem as we were losing veterans to suicide. There are also complaints by veterans they are not receiving timely cancer treatment.
It is all too easy and convenient to blame a Secretary that as a General actually stood up to Bush/Cheney when it came to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
So, everyone can go back to their corners and regroup to pursue the individuals who are actually the arrogant SOBs who thought veteran lives were as disposable as Bush/Cheney did on the battlefield.
This testimony was on February 25, 2003 and the die had been cast by Bush to invade Iraq which occurred on March 19-20, 2003; only 23 days later. General Shinseki's testimony was a matter of formality for Bush. He didn't care what his generals were saying. Hell, he didn't even care what the intelligence was until it was 'cooked up' by Cheney.
It is so very ironic that Bush circumvented his generals and would place his military priorities on Commanders on the ground. Heirarchy of command made no difference to Busy/Cheney. The smart guys who knew what they were doing always got in the administration's way. So. Listen to Shinseki? Never.
Secretary Shinseki has yet to neglect his responsibility to improve the outcomes of our veterans. The system is huge and evidently full of angry incompetents that simply aren't understood by Washington and have to strike out on their own even in the face of deaths.
General Shinseki was not or is he a lackey. He was the Army Chief of Staff at the time of this testimony and his words should have carried enormous weight. Unfortunately, he never played the right politics to win favor with Bush/Cheney by lying under oath to 'make it happen.' One might ask how "Curveball" ended up determining the invasion into Iraq rather than a General dedicated to the safety and successful deployment of his soldiers. The disrespect shown him then as now only proves the depraved nature of our political culture and media. Not much has changed since Iraq, has it?
The US Army took the greatest death toll in Iraq, followed by the US Marines. There were 4397 deaths in Iraq of which 60 percent were Army and 40 percent were Marines. Unless, Shinseki is speaking the words from a script they don't count.
It is so very ironic that Bush circumvented his generals and would place his military priorities on Commanders on the ground. Heirarchy of command made no difference to Busy/Cheney. The smart guys who knew what they were doing always got in the administration's way. So. Listen to Shinseki? Never.
Secretary Shinseki has yet to neglect his responsibility to improve the outcomes of our veterans. The system is huge and evidently full of angry incompetents that simply aren't understood by Washington and have to strike out on their own even in the face of deaths.
General Shinseki was not or is he a lackey. He was the Army Chief of Staff at the time of this testimony and his words should have carried enormous weight. Unfortunately, he never played the right politics to win favor with Bush/Cheney by lying under oath to 'make it happen.' One might ask how "Curveball" ended up determining the invasion into Iraq rather than a General dedicated to the safety and successful deployment of his soldiers. The disrespect shown him then as now only proves the depraved nature of our political culture and media. Not much has changed since Iraq, has it?
The US Army took the greatest death toll in Iraq, followed by the US Marines. There were 4397 deaths in Iraq of which 60 percent were Army and 40 percent were Marines. Unless, Shinseki is speaking the words from a script they don't count.
