Bush apologizes to US troops for poor health care

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Friday apologized to wounded US troops for grim conditions some of them faced at the Washington-area hospital that has treated many injured Iraq veterans.

"It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we're going to fix the problem," he said at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

It was Bush's first visit to the hospital since the Washington Post detailed in February how convalescing soldiers at Walter Reed were left to fend for themselves in a maze of bureaucracy.

The Post also found severely wounded soldiers living in a building with moldy walls, infestations of mice and roaches, and holes in the ceiling....