"Once again, George W. Bush has clearly acted upon his priorities!"

For service to country

A grateful nation repays its soldiers with a minimum of care

Editor, The Times:

Our government claims that it wants to support the troops fighting in Iraq, and then we find out about facilities like Building 18 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ["Troops face neglect, frustration at Army's top medical facility," Times, Local News, Feb. 19].

It is an outrage that soldiers who have served and come home wounded can end up in a place with mold on the walls and mouse droppings on the floor.

The abysmal physical conditions are topped only by the level of bureaucratic bungling, which results in soldiers' spending longer than necessary in a facility where they should never have to go in the first place. Requiring them to file 22 documents with different commands, relying on computer systems that can't communicate with each other, losing forms, sometimes being unable to even verify that they have served characterizes a system that is beyond broken.

As a citizen, I am deeply ashamed that this is the best we can do for those we are asking to make the sacrifices in this unfortunate, misguided war.

— Erika Giles, Mercer Island

Shallow shocked

I have in my possession a Life magazine dated 1968 which exposed the disgusting living conditions in which the Vietnam soldiers who were in VA hospitals were neglected. Then in 1984, I walked into a Denver VA hospital by chance. To say it was terribly filthy is a gross understatement and a complete shame upon this country.

And now the elected politicians as well as those within the military who are career politicians are "shocked" and "surprised" at this "news" about Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Have these crooks spend years in these disgusting conditions and see how they like being forgotten. If a regular guy like me can "uncover" this "news" (which is more than 40 years old), then obviously these "leaders" consciously chose not to see what is occurring to our soldiers who must always be held in the highest esteem and care for life, as they gave all for their country.

Politicians start wars and are rarely wounded, yet they "care" only when this hits the media and then they play cover your tail.

— Bruce Richards, Sammamish

Buck up, general

Concerning the resignation of Army Secretary Gen. Francis J. Harvey in the Walter Reed Hospital scandal ["General stripped of command at troubled Walter Reed center," page one, March 22], I smell two rats here.

First, the squalid conditions under which recuperating soldiers were forced to live at the nation's premier military hospital are an appalling example of just how nonsupportive the Bush administration has been of our troops.

Second, the ouster of Gen. Harvey was likely predicated more on this administration's need to replace him with someone more amenable to a war with Iran than on his oversight failure at the hospital.

This president seizes every opportunity to pack like-minded, aggressive people into positions of authority, rather than deal with those who may offer a dissent on any preconceived policy.

— Bruce Barnbaum, Granite Falls

End of the line, soldier

Sooooo ... let me get this straight. Last week, The Washington Post reported the substandard conditions in Walter Reed hospital's Building 18, where out-patient Iraq war vets are housed. And our self-described "war president" went to Tennessee to deliver a speech promoting more tax cuts for his wealthy friends.

Last week, the U.S. stock market dropped more than 400 points on Monday. And Bush immediately called Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to find out how to fix it ["Fed chief says economy, markets OK," Business & Technology, Feb. 28].

Once again, George W. Bush has clearly acted upon his priorities!

— Paula Joneli, Des Moines

You're going home

Until it is published in The Washington Post, the elected officials are unaware of any problem. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon to get their name in the paper. Those most responsible, i.e., George Bush and the Pentagon bureaucracy, sound off with strong intentions to "fix" the mess ["Officials call for fast fixes at Walter Reed," News, Feb. 21].

Billions spent on Star Wars systems and sole-source contracts, while budget deficiencies are blamed for the failure to provide adequate care for real heroes. Veteran health benefits slashed by the Bush Republicans. Where have they been for the past four years?

In the meantime, more amputee, brain-damaged and mentally wrecked casualties continue to pour into the incompetent, degraded and slum-ghetto system to which the "heroes" are consigned.

While the Pentagon generals and colonels bask in luxurious accommodations, those paying the price of a lifetime of pain and misery are relegated to a hidden backwater of military medicine.

The only true "support of the troops" would be to cut off the pipeline of dead and disabled by ending the Bush/Cheney travesty inflicted on the human race.

— Richard Morgan, Bellingham

Backward losers

Coming in first at the starting line

Dear Washington state Rep. Larry Seaquist:

There are certainly legitimate reasons why the state of Washington may choose not to fund a NASCAR racetrack with tax dollars. It is a shame you subscribe to the Dixie Chicks School of Persuasion and lack the decency and maturity to articulate those reasons in ways that do not insult entire classes of people for no good reason. [See "Dukes of Olympia," editorial, Feb. 24.]

If the crux of your argument is that NASCAR fans are undesirable yokels beneath your quiche-and-Chianti sensibilities, then clearly you have no need of your state being polluted by my presence and my money.

Consider my family's annual trip to Seattle to take in a couple Mariners games and shop at Ikea canceled indefinitely.

— Ross Knudsen, Star, Idaho

The stick in reverse

Concerning the responses of Washington residents to the possibility of NASCAR coming to Washington, please don't stereotype those of us who live in the South. On the news, one man [from the Northwest] referred to people from the South as being "white trash."

As we live near Talladega, Ala., we, too, believe that raceways often bring in an element of people for whom even many Alabama residents would not care to be associated. Those people come from all over the country, as we've observed license plates, even some "rednecks" from the Northwest.

We have lived and traveled often in other states, but Alabama is our home. We've seen as many "rednecks" in Oregon, Colorado, New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts as in Alabama. Alabama, just like many other states, has numerous well-educated professionals.

We, too, go to Starbucks with our laptops, rather than to the bars with our cigarettes. Many of us hang out in bookstores, read and drink our espresso. We dress much like you, live in homes similar to yours and drive the same kind of SUVs you drive.

It's fine to not want NASCAR to come to Washington, but please do not stereotype the many fine, well-educated, professional residents of Alabama.

— Stanley Cook, Gadsden, Ala.