Uh...
The writer jumps the shark at this point:
Is he disbelieving the mold and other horrendous conditions in building 18? That's a FACT. And people have rightly lost their jobs over it.
That, right there, is a bit of over-the-top wingnuttery. It HAPPENED.
Reality is that which, even when you decide you don't believe in it, continues to exist.
What's he going to do next? Say that no troops got food poisoning in filthy KBR-run mess halls?
Gods, I never thought I'd say this, but I completely agree with Manedwolf. While I was never at Walter Reed, I was food poisoned by KBR. Repeatedly. When soldiers beg for MRE's instead of a chow hall, you know something is really, really wrong. If you've never has serious food poisoning, you don't know the depths of human misery.
I still remember the time I was staring at a bunch of KBR execs over a table. I had my M240 ready, wishing I had my para saw, and asked for permission to execute the bastards. I was a good soldier and followed orders, but I still kind of regret it to this day.
is not contradicted by the conditions at one particular hospital for one particular period of time.
The survival rates of wounded American soldiers are unprecedented in history. From almost the moment they are wounded they are receiving, even in the middle of the firefight, the benefits of technology and systems that save lives that would have been lost even a decade ago. They are extracted faster, receive better trauma treatment sooner and have higher levels of care overall than at any time and in any place in history.
One hospital being a nightmare doesn't erase all of that. In fact, if we can't track any increased incidents of death or worsened permanent injury to the troops due specifically to their stay in Walter Reed, it is a travesty only in nature, not real effect.
There are many things worse than death, carebear. Yea, the medical care is better as a whole, but there's still lots of issues. A lot of it has zero to do with the technology and everything to deal with the 'system', 'paper pushers', or whatever you want to call it. The survival rate is mostly owed to the ability to stablize the patient and quickly get them to a hospital, actually. I don't know the numbers, but I'd lay heavy odds that most soldiers in previous wars would have had a significantly higher survival rate if they could be transported to a hospital within minutes instead of hours.
(From the article)
Instead we hear allegations that slyly suggest that the conditions in substandard living quarters are in actuality symptoms of poor medical care being given to our troops. That's a flat-out lie, and you have to hate America to tell it.
Hey, buddy? When was the last time YOU stayed in an un-AC'd barracks literally sinking into a swamp unevenly? Or hell, situations that make said sinking barracks look like heaven, such as a hole in the ground when it's pouring out? You, sir, are indeed a chickenhawk. brawk BRAWK
If you believe the media and the cry-baby left, the entire world hates the United States of America. I dont believe that. The reality of it is they don't hate us; they just love our money and wish they could get their hands on more of it. That's all the rest of the world ever cared about.
I don't claim to have visited the entire world, but my time abroad I saw very little hatred towards Americans. Sure, most foreigners don't like our government most of the time, but I think most Americans share that opinion. I remember being in Bulgaria shortly after we invaded Iraq. I asked a couple locals their opinions. Most of them seemed more embarassed than "hateful". The most hateful response I got was "That was a really stupid thing to do." The average response was "You know, your government probably should have thought it over a bit longer."
Most foreign militaries, including the French, I worked with seemed to like us well enough. The only negative reaction was moreso linguistic/racism, as Spanish soldiers didn't think too highly of native US Spanish speakers. Germans, Scandinavian, and former Eastern bloc downright loved us.
