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One of the only good things to come out of US involvement in Iraq is that people who are against the war still recognize and appreciate the sacrifices and commitments of soldiers fighting in the Middle East. This 21st century philosophy is based on the recognition that the treatment of Vietnam Veterans by anti-war protesters (spitting, name calling) was immoral.

It’s nice to see that in that regard history hasn’t repeated itself.

However, while minivans feature yellow ribbons that read "Support the Troops," those same vehicles are probably driving past the very places where the men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting ill treated.

It’s not anti-war protesters this time, rather the military itself is failing the troops at outpatient medical centers. The Washington Post recently exposed the bureaucratic nightmare and filth that is Walter Reed Medical Center.

Life beyond the hospital bed is a frustrating mountain of paperwork. The typical soldier is required to file 22 documents with eight different commands — most of them off-post — to enter and exit the medical processing world, according to government investigators. Sixteen different information systems are used to process the forms, but few of them can communicate with one another. The Army’s three personnel databases cannot read each other’s files and can’t interact with the separate pay system or the medical record keeping databases.

The disappearance of necessary forms and records is the most common reason soldiers languish at Walter Reed longer than they should, according to soldiers, family members and staffers. Sometimes the Army has no record that a soldier even served in Iraq. A combat medic who did three tours had to bring in letters and photos of herself in Iraq to show she that had been there, after a clerk couldn’t find a record of her service.(Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army’s Top Medical Facility)

While the American people have learned not to scapegoat the servicemen and women for the failings in the so called "War on Terror" the military and the government have not heeded history in their treatment of veterans.

Do you remember learning in your U.S. history class about the Bonus Army. In 1932, about 20,000 veterans and their families camped out in Hoovervilles in D.C. demanding payments owed to them by the U.S. government. The Veterans were removed by the military and the outcome was both humiliating for the soldiers and an embarrassing period in our nation’s history.

Any student who studies that period asks, "How could anyone let that happen to people who have served our country?"

Seventy-five years later, soldiers who are not injured enough to be hospitalized, but injured enough to need consistent medical treatment, fail to receive the care that they need because of an incompetent system.

How can we entrust our military with the task of rebuilding an entire foreign nation when it can’t manage the medical treatment of its veterans?

Some soldiers and Marines have been here (Walter Reed) for 18 months or longer. Doctor’s appointments and evaluations are routinely dragged out and difficult to get. A board of physicians must review hundreds of pages of medical records to determine whether a soldier is fit to return to duty. If not, the Physical Evaluation Board must decide whether to assign a rating for disability compensation. For many, this is the start of a new and bitter battle. (The Hotel Aftermath)

Since the Washington Post uncovered the disaster that is Walter Reed, investigations are taking place, military personnel have been fired, and even legislation is being proposed to improve the system.

Here’s what I don’t understand. If one of these men or women did not report for duty, he/she would be court martialed. That system is fairly expedient. Why does the system fail them when they need medical care?

Why isn’t the system computerized? Why is there so much paperwork? Why can’t you pull up a soldier’s file online and find their condition and recommended treatment? If the military can build  or contract state of the art weapons, why can’t it have an adequate electronic infrastructure to mainstream veteran’s benefits?

Sgt. David Thomas, a gunner with the Tennessee National Guard, spent his first three months at Walter Reed with no decent clothes; medics in Samarra had cut off his uniform. Heavily drugged, missing one leg and suffering from traumatic brain injury, David, 42, was finally told by a physical therapist to go to the Red Cross office, where he was given a T-shirt and sweat pants. He was awarded a Purple Heart but had no underwear. (The Hotel Aftermath)

This week, Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Claire McCaskill will introduce a bill to "improve the quality of care and require more frequent inspections at active duty medical hospitals" (Obama). 

Lobby (email) your Senators and Representatives to support such a bill without political wrangling or maneuvering.

To learn more about this issue, you might need to read about it on the internet. None of the soldiers is named Anna Nicole Smith.

One of the Washington Post articles (requires registration where they ask you some weird questions)

You can sort of read about it on the ABC web site

Press release about the legislation

During the past year or so several celebrities have had public incidents which led them to seek psychological help in the form of some sort of rehab. The most recent committer is singer Britney Spears.

She joins Mel Gibson, one of the Olsen Twins, Nicole Richie, the homophobic guy from Gray’s Anatomy, Lindsey Lohan, Mike Tyson, Miss USA, Robin Williams, Kate Moss, Colin Farrell, Joaquin Phoenix and Boy George on the list of the rich and famous to check into a facility to cure their psychological ills.

The mental health problems of celebrities fascinate the public because these characters follow the plot of any Shakespearean tragedy, or for most of them, bad soap opera storyline. Britney Spears had it all by the time she was 21: millions of dollars and a flat stomach. Like Macbeth, whose scheming wife contributed to his downfall, Britney’s backup dancer husband promoted her ultimate demise with his hard partying, impregnating ways. She did not perish in a sword fight with her enemy, rather she sunk to rock bottom in the seat of a hairstylist’s chair who refused on moral grounds to shave her head.

But, thank God, Britney “returned” to rehab. We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Britney will be ok.

My problem with all of these celebrities checking into rehab is that I doubt (no kidding) the sincerity of their intent to, well, rehabilitate. And then there’s this problem: maybe rehabilitation isn’t the answer. For most of the above celebrities, (besides Robin Williams) the evidence underwhelms that they were even solid or even good individuals to begin with. Maybe it would be better if they avoided rehabilitation at all causes and aimed for a complete personality transplant.

For example, Betty Ford, the mother of the modern rehab clinic, was a worthwhile individual before she succumbed to alcoholism. Like Mrs. Ford, good people suffer from psychological and addiction problems. I’m not sure that’s the issue with the rehab bound/graduated celebrities. Mrs. Ford was worth rehabilitating. I’m not sure these celebrities are.

The issue might be that they are not good people. I wouldn’t say they are evil, but certainly they are excessively spoiled with absolutely no perspective. If Britney Spears was a typical single mom with two kids living in Louisiana, do you think she would be partying with Paris Hilton at night? If she was of average means, she would be working her ass off to support her two young children. If she was of above average means, she would be parenting the children 24-7. She wouldn’t be addicted to anything except, maybe, caffeine.

I’d like to start a new rehabilitation program for famous people at “Get a Grip you Spoiled Brat” centers. For example, Britney should live in a trailer along with people affected by Hurricane Katrina and not have access to her bank accounts for six months. Lindsey Lohan, Kate Moss, the Olsen Twin, and Nicole Richie should spend a year in the Sudan working in a refugee camp.

And as for Mel Gibson and the homophobic guy from Gray’s Anatomy, I don’t think there’s any psychological cure for being a jerk. Look, some people are just ignorant which leads them to be antisemetic or homophobic. How is rehab going to help them?

Speaking of unhelpful, according to the media, Britney checked into Promises Treatment Center in Malibu. Visit their web site. At this center she experiences the best in fine dining, spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, a gorgeous room and yeah, counseling.

After Promises releases Britney, or she leaves before being cured which is more likely, she will return to the party circuit and continue her downward spiral until no one cares anymore, she ends up in jail, or dead.

Honestly, I could not care less about her. But she has two very little kids who deserve an able bodied present mom.

Who is going to rehabilitate them?