by D. Cupples | For some time now, we've learned that the U.S. Veteran's Administration (VA) has failed to adequately take care of the men and women who've served our nation. Our politicians and bureaucrats have failed to see that they get proper health care and proper treatment for PTSD. A few moths ago, President Bush actually pocket-vetoed an appropriations bill that included raises for our troops and better veterans' benefits.
Now, apparently, the VA is failing to accurately report statistics that are important to elected officials who actually want to solve problems. McClatchy reports:
"The Veterans Administration has lied about the number of veterans who've attempted suicide, a senator charged Wednesday, citing internal e-mails that put the number at 12,000 a year when the department was publicly saying it was fewer than 800.
"'The suicide rate is a red-alarm bell to all of us,' said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Murray also said that the VA's mental health programs are being overwhelmed by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, even as the department tries to downplay the situation.
"'We are not your enemy, we are your support team, and unless we get accurate information we can't be there to do our jobs," Murray told Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield during the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing." (McClatchy)
No, President Bush -- himself -- is not misleading Congress and the public about this alarming issue. And Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. James Peake (a Bush appointee), probably isn't lying about statistics.
But someone who works under Dr. Peake apparently is. The big question is Why? How can our elected officials have a snowball's chance of solving problems if the actual nature of the problems are hidden?
And what benefit does the VA or the rest of the Bush Administration get from downplaying problems facing our veterans -- both old and recently returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?
Surely, the Adminsitration can't believe that learning about veterans' problems would decrease public support for the Iraq war.
That F-14 has already left the aircraft carrier: most polls show more than 60% of American adults oppose the Iraq war or see it as a mistake.
Incidentally, the VA's budget for FY 2007 exceeded $77 billion. Where's that money going?
Other BN-Politics Posts:
* High Cost of Private Contractors
* IRS Contractors Cost More than They Collect
* Contractor Supplies Bad Ammo, Gets Hundreds of Millions
* Inspector General Blocked Investigations re: Waste & Fraud?
* Contractor Gets $30+ Million but Built Nothing
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