BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

At last someone in Congress used “criminal” when speaking of the treatment of our veterans.  It is well past time.

The chairman of the House Veterans Committee blasted the Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday, accusing the agency of criminal failure to respond to evidence of rising suicide rates among former soldiers.

“This is a matter of life and death,” said Chairman Bob Filner, D-California, “and I think there was criminal negligence in the way this was handled.”

In a follow-up hearing on the veteran suicide issue, Filner insisted the VA either ignored critical suicide data or covered up the numbers.

“The pattern is deny, deny, deny,” Filner told Veterans Secretary Jim Peake, “then when facts seemingly come to disagree with the denial, you cover up, cover up, cover up.”

Apparently, it was Veterans Secretary Jim Peake’s time to face the heat. 

Dr. Ira Katz who wrote an internal memo saying that 12,000 veterans attempt suicide while under care each year.  Today Katz defended his email saying that it was perhaps poorly worded… that was the part where he suggested that someone might “stumble upon” the figures.  Katz in December had emailed that the numbers were being exaggerated.  Unfortunately, the so-called “exaggerated numbers” were from his own data.  There’s just no appropriate defense for that cover-up.

So, today the wrath of Congress also turned to Peake.  As if that was not bad enough, Bush said later today that he had full confidence in Peake… ah… the kiss of death or at least forced resignation, I would suggest.

When confronted, 

Peake responded with a list of statistics by age and gender, insisting such data can be incomplete and easily manipulated.

He confronted one of the most heated figures, an estimate that 1,000 veterans a month are attempting suicide.

“I can appreciate that the number of 1,000 suicide attempts a month might be shocking,” he said, “but in a system as large as ours … and consistent with the literature, we might well expect a larger number of attempts than that.”

Peake denied there was any attempt to downplay the numbers on suicides among veterans.

“I believe that Dr. Katz was not trying to obfuscate,” Peake told reporters afterward, “I have no intention of relieving Dr. Katz.”

Peake, answering questions in a hallway after his testimony, said “maybe we should have been looking at this sooner, but we didn’t have that infrastructure in place.”

Excuse me?  This isn’t the first time we have been at war.  Remember Nam?  This isn’t the first time we have sent healthy well adjusted men into battle and brought home fragmented minds and souls destroyed from the ravages of war.

Yet, Peake tried to insist there was no cover-up and that was met head on by an irate Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ)

at what he sees as stonewalling by the VA. He said he has spent four months requesting specifics on what resources the agency needs to handle the suicide issue.

“That’s not just an insult to me, it’s an insult to me and our veterans,” he said.

He was told to file a Freedom of Information Act request, a method more commonly reserved for the public and media, not congressional committee members, he said.

“I’ve tried to be reasonable,” Mitchell told the committee, “I’ve tried to work with Secretary Peake’s office, but Mr. Chairman, my patience is at an end.”

Mitchell told Peake that if he does not receive the documents by Friday, he will push for a committee subpoena.

In the past, Peake has denied the agency suppressed or ignored key suicide records.

It’s about time!  For those of us (bloggers) who have consistently called for action concerning our veterans, today seemed to be a break through… not in getting anything done per se, but in getting the ball rolling and at the very least having Congress recognize that some of the treatment of our veterans is “criminal”.

Personally, I would like to see Mr. Peake and Mr. Scott Bloch become roommates… cellmates.  But, for now, it will suffice to introduce both to the unemployment lines.

If there is anyone who cannot see the inadequacy, the ineptitude, the corruption and the feeble cover-ups of this administration, please show me the rock you are living under.  Again, and this is twice in one day, I am suggesting that the Bush administration has defined its legacy.

Now, please don’t let the VA continue to lie and deceive.  We are dealing with the lives of honored and honorable veterans who have sacrificed far more than was asked of them and are being thrown in the trash heap when they need help.  This is unacceptable and our national disgrace.  Of all the wrongs and injustices of the present administration, none is as despicable as the treatment of our veterans.