Health Care of U.S Troops in Iraq

The troops in Iraq face so many problems, and the most problem they are facing right now is health care. Reading from the international news, I’ve learned that those troops are not being taken care of the way they are supposed to be and that’s not right. President George Bush apologized to the U.S. wounded troops who were in Washington hospital when he found out about the situation. At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, President Bush said that volunteer to wear the U.S. uniform and not get the best possible care is not right. He apologized for what they are going through, and he said that they are going to fix the problem.

I understand that this was the first visit for the President since the Washington Post detailed in February of how convalescing soldiers at Walter Reed were left to fend for themselves in a maze of bureaucracy. The Post also found severely wounded troops living in the building with mold on the walls, infestations of mice and reaches, and holes in the ceiling. I think this is not only hard to the troops but it is very hard to their families knowing that their siblings are not getting the best care they deserve. Most of those wounded troops might even suffer severe health problems because they are not getting the medical care they need. Other soldiers and families were talking about how the case managers lost track of the wounded soldiers because they became outpatients, and left them to navigate mountains of paperwork and other bureaucratic requirements to get discharged from the military with disability benefits. This was a disgraceful situation that caused the army secretary Francis Harvey and hospital commander Major General George Weightman to lose their jobs. People like Secretary Harvey and Commander Major General Weigtman deserve to get punished for what they are doing to troops who give up their lives to protect others.

President George W. Bush said that he was disturbed after talking to most of those soldiers who had been housed in the dilapidated building. He said: “the system failed you, and it failed our troops. And we’re going to fix it.” This is not something that the President supposed to find out about, this situation should’ve been taken care. These people risk their lives for others, and the least they can get is better health care.