General Kiley, the man who reportedly left an injured American soldier to sleep in his own urine is now BACK in charge at Walter Reed, after presiding over all the worst abuses at Walter Reed for two years. Why does Urine Man have any job in the military, let alone back at the helm of Walter Reed? More from the Post.
We are glad that the Army is finally taking the issue of outpatient care seriously enough to effectively end the career of a major general for presiding over the disgraceful condition of Building 18. But the evidence compiled so far suggests that Gen. Kiley has been more complicit in the scandalous neglect of Walter Reed's outpatient facilities for longer than Gen. Weightman has been. It also indicates that the Army's reshuffle is really about projecting the appearance of accountability, not punishing those most responsible.
TAKE ACTION
Folks, please call and email your Senators and House members and ask them to get involved and publicly speak out on this horrible issue. The abuses of our vets have gone on too long at Walter Reed, and now they're yet again being ignored. Some members of Congress like Nancy Pelosi, Louise Slaughter, Kendrick Meek, Barack Obama, and Claire McCaskill have spoken out, and Jack Murtha and John Tierney are each holding hearings. But far too many members of Congress haven't said or done squat.
Where is the House Veterans Affairs Committee? Not a word about this scandal on their Web site home page. In the Senate, the head of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Daniel Akaka (D-HI), issued a statement expressing concern over the Walter Reed abuses, and saying that he will be holding hearings in March on this issue and others. That's great. But it would be nice to hear from the chairman about what he plans to do right now about Mr. Kiley.
And where are the Republican members of Congress? You remember them, the folks who claim, early and often, to care so much about our troops. Why have almost all of them, save Bill Young (R-FL) and Tom Davis (R-VA), been so silent on this matter? And before you give Young and Davis a pass, they were in CHARGE of oversight on this matter while the Republicans controlled congress. Where were they while our soldiers were sleeping in their own urine? Why did Congressman Young go silent for two years after finding out about these atrocities?
Call your members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, and tell them that the wife of Congressman Bill Young (R-FL) says Lt. General Kevin Kiley, who is back heading Walter Reed, let an injured American soldier sleep in his own urine. Kiley needs to be fired as head of Walter Reed, and fired from the Army as well (incredibly, he's still the Army's Surgeon General!). We need our representatives in Congress to all speak out and make clear that the abuse of our vets is intolerable.
