Review All Military Hospitals

Mar 05, 02:23 PM

Current Headlines: By Deseret Morning News editorial

So far, new Defense Secretary Robert Gates hasn't been afraid to make some high-ranking heads roll in the wake of Washington Post news stories about deplorable conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But much more needs to be done in the days and weeks ahead.

It seems as if everyone is eager to give lip service to the need to honor the men and women who risk their lives in the service of their country, but one of the most visible and meaningful manifestations of that honor lies in the way the nation treats those wounded in that service. At Walter Reed, the conditions have been quite the opposite of honorable.

Just as bad, however, has been the reactions of those who ought to have made that care a priority. Their first instinct was to bash the media -- something that doesn't play well to the masses when the media's reports are undeniably true.

Two of the men who reacted this way, Army Secretary Francis Harvey and Maj. Gen. George Weightman, the commanding general at Walter Reed, lost their jobs over the scandal. But the man the Army chose to temporarily run the facility, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, has questions of his own to answer. He ran Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, and evidence exists that he was aware of problems with sanitation and other deficiencies during that time. He also has been prone to blame the media for exaggerating these problems, despite ample information about insect infestations and a lack of proper follow-up care for soldiers struggling with injuries.

The military's penchant for creating soulless bureaucracies is hardly front-page news. But the Walter Reed mess goes beyond the realm of bureaucratic neglect and enters the realm of shocking.

We suggest Gates continue his house-cleaning. That should provide a serious preface to the work of a bipartisan commission President Bush has promised to appoint. That commission shouldn't confine itself to Walter Reed. Every military medical facility in the nation should be scrutinized, as should the level of care provided to all veterans and the process by which problems may be reported.

It shouldn't be necessary to remind people that the nation owes it freedoms, its prosperity and its sovereignty to the men and women who agree to take up arms in defense of its causes. The least the nation can do is treat those who are wounded with a measure of dignity.

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