[Politics] Outpatient Care for Troops "Unacceptable:" Gates

Following a Washington Post report on the dillapidated conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., Seretary of Defense Robert Gates on Friday deamed that the state of outpatient care for wounded troops was "unacceptable." The report from the Washington Post indicated that among the problems soldiers had to deal with rat and cockroach infestation, among other disrepairs, and that they faced extreme red tape to obtain the proper treatments. Read the Reuters report.

Unacceptable does not even begin to describe the atrocity of the situation. The nation's current health care crisis is woeful, but the fact that our troops aren't even receiving proper or sanitary care in a timely manner is deplorable. If we cannot properly treat our wounded soldiers then we cannot afford to be bogged down in endless military struggles. The least we can afford our soldiers, as long as we have trouble giving purpose to their activities in Iraq, is the proper outpatient care in the event they are injured. I am remaining hopeful that Gates, our new Secretary of Defense, will aggresively address the problems better than his predecessor did.

In the meantime, if you have the means, you can improve the life of a wounded soldier by donating to The Wounded Warrior Project, which brings much needed and much appreciated supplies to wounded soldiers. Wounded vet Robert Loria informed me of the organization at a VoteVets.org event last October, and I was sure to make a contribution at the end of the year.