More Than a Yellow Ribbon
Sen. Obama blasted the Bush administration’s failure to provide appropriate — or even adequate — care for wounded U.S. troops returning from battle, the AP reports today. Speaking to the nation’s largest firefighters union, Sen. Obama “said he’s tired of officials who talk about supporting the troops but don’t provide adequate health care.”
Here is the AP’s coverage of Sen. Obama’s remarks (available in full here):
“They don’t do anything except slap a yellow ribbon on the back of their SUV,” the Illinois senator said during a parade of Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls appearing before the nation’s largest firefighters union.
“When our veterans come home, I don’t want them forgotten in run-down buildings,” Obama said to loud applause from the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The union counts about 1,000 members fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, with many more who have returned from the war and continue to serve in the National Guard and Reserves. Revelations of poor outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center clearly has touched a nerve.
Shortly after the revelations about the conditions at Walter Reed, Sen. Obama proposed legislation that would “cut red tape, improve service, and require frequent inspections of all active duty military hospitals,” as we noted here previously.
