US orders review into treatment of wounded troops

WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) The Bush administration ordered a review of the care of wounded US troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan after reports that many face neglect in the Army's medical system.

Democrats controlling Congress demanded a thorough investigation and promised legislation after a Washington Post series exposed deteriorating conditions for hundreds of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, the premier US military hospital.

The controversy poses a public relations problem for President George W Bush, who has spoken often of America's debt to military personnel wounded in the wars, visited the hospital's wards and honored military amputees at White House functions.

The White House yesterday expressed concern at conditions for veterans after reports that many suffering physical and psychological problems lived in shoddy housing on or near the sprawling complex and faced long battles with Army bureaucracy.

''I can tell you that we believe that they deserve better,'' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. ''Of course, there's outrage that men and women who have been fighting have not received the outpatient care.'' ''We need to make sure that whatever problems there are get fixed,'' he added.

The Pentagon said an independent panel would look into outpatient care and administrative processes at Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

''We are committed to improving the clinical and administrative processes, including improving temporary living conditions for our service members and their families,'' said Assistant Secretary of Defense William Winkenwerder, the Pentagon's top doctor.

The Army and Navy had also begun their own reviews into the two medical centers, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The White House has irked the new Democratic majority in Congress by suggesting that they would be hurting American troops if they made any effort to cut off funds for the Iraq war, which faces growing public opposition.

Two Democratic senators, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Patty Murray of Washington, wrote Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging a high-level investigation of ''deplorable living conditions'' at Walter Reed, where presidents, lawmakers and soldiers have been treated since 1909.

Two other Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen.

Claire McCaskill of Missouri, said they would introduce legislation to improve the quality of care and require more frequent inspections of active-duty military hospitals.

''Caring for our returning heroes is one of the things we can still get right about this war, and that's why the deterioration of the conditions at Walter Reed is both appalling and unacceptable,'' said Obama, a candidate for his party's 2008 presidential nomination.

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