Psyche, Science, and Society

Gen. Kiley: Urine Man or Torture Man?

March 2nd, 2007

John Aravosis of AmericaBlog reminds us that the new, as of yesterday, head of Walter Reed Medical Center is the man who ignored complaints of conditions there for five years. In particular, New head of Walter Reed let soldier sleep in his own urine.

"In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. 'When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable,' said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.

Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, "I ' went flying down to Kevin Kiley's office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else' ."

But he does look good in a uniform: Meet Urine Man. Surely that’s more important than the poor soldier lying in his urine.

Of course, those of us opposing psychologist participation in the torture and abuse at Guantanamo (and elsewhere) know Kiley as the guy the American Psychological Association brought in to the 2006 APA Convention sing the praises of the psychologists in the Guantanamo and Iraq Behavioral Science Consultation Teams (BSCTs). A colleague at the Convention recalls being told “hat an impressive spectacle ‘the General’ had made with his military entourage.” No concern for the detainees at Guantanamo being abused by Kiley’s BSCTs. Power trumps morality and decency yet again.

So the question of the day: Is Kiley best described as “Urine Man” or as “Torture Man?”

UPDATE: See the Washington Post editorial: Not ‘a Good-News Story’: Why is Gen. Kiley back in charge at Walter Reed?:

[Y]esterday, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the head of Walter Reed since August, had been relieved of his command. His temporary replacement? None other than Gen. Kiley.

Here’s where the story stops making sense. Much of The Post’s article detailed the abuse by omission that Gen. Kiley, not Gen. Weightman, committed, first as head of Walter Reed, then in his current post as Army surgeon general. Gen. Weightman, who very well might deserve his disgrace, has commanded Walter Reed for only half a year, while Gen. Kiley, now back in charge of Walter Reed, headed the hospital and its outpatient facilities for two years and has led the Army’s medical command since. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife say they repeatedly told Gen. Kiley about unhealthful conditions in outpatient facilities.

While Gen. Kiley was ignoring Walter Reed’s outpatients, he was assuring Congress that he was doing just the opposite. A staffer for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) told us yesterday that Gen. Kiley told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2005 that the performance of the medical holdover program, which covers 69 of the 76 residents of Building 18, “is a good-news story.” In response to questions Mr. Davis submitted, Gen. Kiley stated, “the Army Surgeon General has made their care the medical treatment facilities’ top priority.” At best, Gen. Kiley was ignorant of the conditions at Walter Reed.

UPDATE II: Rep. Slaughter (S: NY) has called for Urine Man, aka Torture Man, aka Gen. Kiley to be fired as temporary head of Walter Reed.

I am pleased that you recognized the severity of the situation at Walter Reed and moved quickly to address it. However, I am very concerned with the Army’s decision to place Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley as the temporary head of Walter Reed. As the Washington Post has reported, most of the problems with outpatient care at Walter Reed began during Lt. General Kiley’s first command there in 2003. Lt. Gen. Kiley and his staff were routinely made aware of the deteriorating conditions during his tenure, but chose to do nothing about it. In fact, Lt. Gen. Kiley reportedly dismissed concerns raised by Members of Congress, veterans organizations, and even the spouse of the former Secretary of Defense.

I have very little confidence that Lt. General Kiley, given his track record as previous Commander of Walter Reed, is capable of providing the leadership needed to fix Walter Reed’s broken bureaucracy and shoddy infrastructure. I strongly urge the Department of Defense to rescind Lt. General Kiley’s assignment, and place Walter Reed in charge of an effective leader.

Update III: Whatever we call him, Kiley’s gone from Walter Reed, as this Army Press Release reports. Also gone is the Secretary of the Army, as the administration tries to pretend it cares.

Entry Filed under: APA, Guantanamo, Psychology, Torture, Veterans, War Crimes