As I read through the WaPo articles about the "Other Walter Reed" I was reminded of how many times I heard Representatives and Senators say the words "support for our troops" while they debated to debate non-binding resolutions over a period of 4 days last week. The Post reporting makes it abundantly clear to me that all those speeches about supporting the troops by both Republicans and Democrats are in the end nothing but lip service. What I am learning about the way the Defense Dept is treating our wounded from Iraq sickens me. And when I think about all that holier-than-thou troop support posturing from the House and Senate floor I get angry.

It appears that nobody is making sure that the wounded are getting the appropriate level of medical care that they need. It's clear from the reports that the Defense Dept isn't providing adequate care. And the Congress hasn't been carrying out its responsibility for oversight so they have no clue about what is really going on out there. Who is minding the store? These tragic stories serve to underscore how out of control this whole Iraq situation is.

Since the election I, like many other voters, have been waiting for Congress to act to end our occupation of Iraq.  It's a fiasco. The situation is dire. What part of those words does the Congress not understand? I have been trying to figure out why the Representatives and Senators have been reluctant to act. Seeing these reports of the ongoing calamity at the "Other Walter Reed" juxtaposed with the pontificating about support for our troops from the halls of the Capitol has given me a new perspective on the Congress.  Clearly my expectations for the legislative branch of our government were too high. If Congress, with all its lawmaking power, cannot provide for the appropriate level of medical care for our wounded troops, how can I expect that it would be capable of dealing with matters of war and peace?

After all is said and argued, the real meaning of the non-binding resolution and all the debate that went with it is that the Congress just doesn't want to face the reality of war. The wounded have been returning in a steady stream for four years now and the stream will continue indefinitely until our soldiers are ordered to come home. No amount of floor debate, no matter how righteously delivered, will protect the soldier from getting wounded.

Congress must now face up to the fact that in addition to all the other mismanaged operations of this conflict, the President is unable to provide appropriate medical care for the wounded. How can the level of care for the wounded be getting worse when the wounded have been streaming into the system for four years and the money has been pouring into the system in the billions per week?  Immediate action should be taken to force the Defense Dept to provide appropriate medical care to the wounded, and to hold those accountable who have acted negligently. Any action must be definitive and binding and for the purpose of bringing an out of control Executive under control.

Now I haven't been able to find the press briefing transcript -- they seem to run several days behind on the White House website, but I'll trust Americablog on this one:

Snow told the press corps that if they wanted to know what was going on at Walter Reed, those responsible for working on the problem "work on the other side of the river." In other words, it's the Pentagon's fault, and the Pentagon's responsibility for fixing it -- as if George Bush has no say over what the Pentagon does (or no desire).