Army Secretary steps down over Walter Reed scandal

By Michael J.W. Stickings

With the Walter Reed scandal still alive and well -- see here and here for our recent posts -- Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned today:

Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned today amid a burgeoning scandal over the treatment of wounded outpatient soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and President Bush ordered a "comprehensive review" of care for the nation's war wounded, as the administration sought to deal with growing anger in Congress and among the public over the issue.

A visibly angry Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the resignation in a brief statement this afternoon, saying he was "disappointed" by the Army's response to disclosures of inadequate outpatient care at Walter Reed and bureaucratic inertia in dealing with wounded soldiers.

The Carpetbagger Report: "My opinion of Robert Gates just went up considerably. As Atrios put it, 'This is the first time in the entire Bush administration that we've had anything which even felt remotely like a genuine "accountability" moment.' There's still time for these guys to screw it up, but if Gates is cleaning house and firing people, I'm extremely encouraged."

I can't believe I'm writing this, but... so am I. At least someone in the Bush Administration is taking responsibility for something.

(For more on the scandal, see Think Progress, Taylor Marsh, NewsHog, Needlenose, and DownWithTyranny!.)