Traumatic Brain Injury

One of Obama's campaign promises was that the nation would do a better job of taking care of our wounded soldiers, in particular those afflicted by the signature injury of these wars, traumatic brain injury due to blast. NPR's story today strongly suggests that this is a pledge he has failed to deliver on. Soldier interviews showed that the Army was actively avoiding its responsibility. Fort Bliss Texas was supposed to be a showpiece for the Army's treatment program, but soldiers report waiting months for appointments and getting Tylenol for treatment when they finally do get in.

The base commander refused repeated requests for interviews, sticking Colonel James Baunchalk, the Medical Center Commander with that job. The Col. knew all the right buzzwords and even had a handy Powerpoint, but either he is lying through his teeth or a whole bunch of wounded soldiers are.

If the implications of this story are close to true, and Obama cares anything for our wounded soldiers - much less for his campaign promise - he ought to reach down and summarily remove a few senior officers.

We are fighting a war, and the priority is to supply the generals with more cannon fodder, not treat their results. But this war's chances for any kind of victory will get even smaller if the public turns against it en masse.

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