Originally Posted By ElKay Here's a great article from the Army Times regarding the Bush Admin's Walter Reed Hospital scandal. Check out this link-- <a href="http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/03/Weightmansubpoena/" target="_blank">http://www.armytimes.com/news/ 2007/03/Weightmansubpoena/</a> "The committee wants to learn more about a letter written in September by Garrison Commander Peter Garibaldi to Weightman. The memorandum “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,’†the committee’s letter states. “According to multiple sources, the decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed led to a precipitous drop in support personnel at Walter Reed.†The letter said Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official. They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50 private workers."
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>...Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official.<< So a company run by a former Halliburton executive was awarded a five year contract to provide support services at Walter Reed. That's the "Haliburton Connection?" Pretty weak. Further, the sad scandals at Walter Reed are based on the physical deterioration of the physical plant, not support services. Back in 2005, the Department of Defense decided to close the aging Walter Reed facility and merge it into a new state-of-the-art facility in Bethesda. There was supposed to be a gradual transfer of facilities, culminating in a "new" Walter Reed by 2011. My guess is that with the many casualties arriving from Iraq, sections of Walter Reed that were scheduled for closure (or even closed) ended up back in use. However it happened, the conditions at Walter Reed are deplorable. There's plenty of blame to go around; there's no need to try and invent new ones.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>However it happened, the conditions at Walter Reed are deplorable. There's plenty of blame to go around; there's no need to try and invent new ones.<< Too true. Besides, Halliburton has plenty of blame for scamming American taxpayers of over a billion dollars for services in Iraq that they never did. Plenty of Halliburton workers and American soldiers have documented empty trucks charging the government for deliveries, or Halliburton officials staying at posh resorts and getting reimbursed of Cadillac Escalades and jet skis. We're paying $100 for Halliburton's sub-company, KBR, to do one load of laundry for American soldiers. A six pack of Coke? $30+ (and it's made and bottled right in the Middle East - it's not imported). So by all means, let's not discuss Halliburton's non-existent connection to Walter Reed; we should be discussing their multi-billion dollar Iraq contract and how poorly that money has been managed.
