Walter Reed is so full of war wounded that some stay in hotels

[donsu]

http://www.guerrillanews.com/media/doc2804.html

-snip-

The men and women injured in Iraq and Afghanistan have become the new disappeared.

-snip-

"Since the war has started, I can't give you an exact number because that's classified information, but I can say to you over 4,000 have stayed here at Andrews," he said. "And that number doubles when you count the people that come here to Andrews, and then we send them to other places like Walter Reed and Bethesda..."

-snip-

Whatever the actual numbers of wounded, military hospitals are being overwhelmed. "Staff are working 70- or 80-hour weeks," Borger reports. "he Walter Reed army hospital in Washington is so full that it has taken over beds normally reserved for cancer patients to handle the influx, according to a report on CBS television." Some of the outpatient wounded are even being placed at nearby hotels because of the overflow, according to The Washington Times.

-snip-

What is it about the wounded that makes us uncomfortable? Why have they been left out of the coverage of the war by the broadcast media?
-snip-
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wonder how many arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, chunks of body didn't come home to america?

the bloody hands bushgang did this.

[htuttle]

1. Why is the number of wounded 'classified'?

From the article:

"Since the war has started, I can't give you an exact number because that's classified information, but I can say to you over 4,000 have stayed here at Andrews," he said. "And that number doubles when you count the people that come here to Andrews, and then we send them to other places like Walter Reed and Bethesda..."

Does anyone remember the casualty figures being classified before?

Obscured, minimized, lied about, maybe...but classified? That's a first, I think...

BUT, OH NO, OUR MILITARY WOULD NEVER LIE ABOUT THE WOUNDED OR DEAD (as so many try to assure us), RIGHT?

[arcane1]

3. "cooking the books" can be applied in many areas

and this is one of them :mad:

[Bandit]

5. Is there anything at all that isn't classified in this Administration?

Anything?

[Ripley]

7. Georgie's hotline to God.

And the whiffle-ball family fun fest in the rose garden haven't been classified yet.

[saskatoon]

8. One of the wounded was Sgt. Matthew Dewitt 26 of Portland, Oregon

This verse mentioning Sgt. Dewitt comes from a song titled "Dateline Iraq" The Sgt. was interviewed by a Knight Ridder reporter at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC. This 26 year old looked down at his non existent hands and said, "I don't know, I just don't know---what can I do" (Damn, I cry every time I write this. Here is the verse:)

Sgt. Dewitt dazed, disbelieving
sat on his bed and stared
at the end of his arms
where his hands had disappeared
And in the meantime and between time
back at the ranch, when not collecting loot
Mr Bush was busy donning his exercising suit
© g.m. stevenson
Forgive the emoticon---I can't seem to get rid of it

[Neecy]

2. the media can't cover this...

They're too busy covering vacation month at the pig ranch and the * fundraising galas.

Amputees aren't 'sexy' to our media, nor will they report anything that might tick down the approval ratings for pResident Action Figure.

[lebkuchen]

4. Landstuhl in Germany is full and has been full

I've posted articles from "Stars and Stripes" periodically--I can't quote the numbers w/o seeing the article. The hospitals are also running short of blood.

That says something about the seriousness of the issues.

Can the US military system support the costs of care? No. That's why there concurrent receipt will never be a reality in our lifetimes.

Of course, the recruiter will never talk about those issues, nor will the typical 19 y.o. enlistee know to ask.

[terryg11]

6. looks like they learned one lesson from Vietnam

if the body counts and wounded start to add up just deny the citizens those numbers and everything will be ok

[HereSince1628]

9. Washingtonpost article says US reports about 1200 wounded.

I'm not defending anything, just that suggests available reports vary between 1200 and more than 4000.

Its not that it needs to be a secret...the administration just has this unquenched need to lie about things and here is another opportunity.

[htuttle]

11. The upper bounds of the estimate is 8,000, not 4,000

Read this paragraph again:

"Since the war has started, I can't give you an exact number because that's classified information, but I can say to you over 4,000 have stayed here at Andrews," he said. "And that number doubles when you count the people that come here to Andrews, and then we send them to other places like Walter Reed and Bethesda..."

4,000 x 2 (ie., doubled) = 8,000

[Starpass]

10. There is positively new reason in hell to classify it---there really isn't

..except to deceive the American people and keep the bastard's numbers up. This is when it is up to our nine candidates to get figures and tell the American people how many died PLUS how many are wounded and hospitalized. We see the people are already reacting without that missing piece of info---think how far our candidates can take it if they start pushing these stats too. Pretty soon we will find out that whenever Bush sends the troops to war, it is classified in case some rock throwers discover where our tanks, rockets, and nukes are.

[bigtree]

12. good links

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

http://www.iraqometer.com/

[Kool Kitty]

13. I don't understand why they are hiding this.

(On second thought, I guess I know why.) During the "press" briefing today, a female reporter (whose name I don't know) said that if anyone wanted to know the number of wounded troops, they would have to file a "Freedom of Information" request. What the fuck is that? And you know they won't get a answer-Ashcroft has effectively nullified the act by saying that if they don't think it's important for you to know, they can just refuse to comply with the request. The reporter pressed the point and all Scotty droned was, "You have to ask the Department of Defense, you have to ask the Department of Defense..."