Rummy's Privatized Obsession and the Impact on Walter Reed



The firing of the Army Secretary and removal of the temporary head of Walter Reed may make you wonder what’s going on in Washington. Here’s a hint: This is what accountability looks like. You may have forgotten—after all we’ve never seen it before in the Bush administration. You can’t count finally shoving Rummy out the door as “holding him accountable” for anything, not with the glorious send-off he got and the continuing accolades (“the finest secretary of Defense this nation has ever had”) from Darth Cheney.

So, at least we can say good for Defense Secretary Gates for forcing Army Secretary Francis Harvey out. The last straw, apparently, was Harvey’s appointment of General Kevin Kiley as temporary commander of Walter Reed, replacing General Weightman. Kiley was in charge of Walter Reed before Weightman, and had been told repeatedly of the disgraceful conditions in the outpatient care facilities. Gates wouldn’t have Kiley back, even temporarily.

A key issue to be resolved is how much Rumsfeld’s obsession with privatizing the military contributed to the Walter Reed situation. Fortunately both the House and Senate have hearings scheduled, beginning Monday at Walter Reed.

General Weightman is scheduled to appear before Rep. Henry Waxman’s Oversight committee. It took the threat of a subpoena to make it happen, since the Army was dead set against him testifying, but now he will show up.

The Army Times reports the committee wants to talk to Weightman about the impact of the Army’s decision to award a five year, 120 million dollar contract to IAP World Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, former COO of Halliburton’s KBR, and David Swindle (that’s really his name), also formerly of KBR. The decision to bring in private contractors at Walter Reed led to a virtual mass exodus of experienced career staffers.

Waxman’s committee released a memo from Garrison commander Peter Garibaldi to Weightman which:

“describes how the Army’s decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was causing an exodus of ‘highly skilled and experienced personnel.’ ... According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.”

IAP won the contract under highly suspect circumstances in the first place, and they’re known for having failed to deliver ice to Katrina victims.

Rumsfeld is gone but his impact lives on.

“Finest” defense secretary ever, yessiree.

Gates has his work cut out for him.