'bout time

One thing that always bugged me about Donald Rumsfeld was his callous disregard for the welfare of his own soldiers. He sent them into battle without proper training and with insufficient armour, then made excuses rather than commitments to our boys and girls.

I hated that about him. I hated the way he had a machine sign letters to the families of the fallen. And I especially hated hearing how our wounded soldiers were treated.

However, until now I haven't seen signs that Robert M. Gates was any better, and if you don't understand this you don't understand anything. The one thing a potential recruit should ever hear is that his commitment to serve is a one-way commitment.

Unless Mr. Gates is full of hot air, which is always possible in this do-nothing-right Bush administration, then at long last our wounded will be treated with the respect they earned.

"The men and women recovering at Walter Reed and at other military hospitals have put their lives on the line and paid a considerable price for defending our country," Gates said. "They battled our foreign enemies. They should not have to battle an American bureaucracy."

Good words Mr. Gates. May you live up to them.

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