the panel concluded there was inadequate understanding of how to diagnose and treat the brain injuries that have become a signature of the Iraq war, where thousands of troops have been wounded by improvised explosive devices, and the mental effects of long exposure to the constant threat of attack.

“We believe there is a need for greater and better coordinated research in this area,” he said.

Didn’t the meathead cut funding for this research?

From the NYTimes:

WASHINGTON, April 11 - An independent panel assessing dilapidated facilities and red tape for wounded Iraq war veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Wednesday issued a sweeping indictment of leadership failures, inadequate training and staffing shortages.

The panel, headed by two former secretaries of the Army, Togo D. West Jr. and John O. Marsh Jr., found that a high standard of care for troops when they were first evacuated from war zones and hospitalized fell apart when they became outpatients, with a “breakdown in health services” and “compassion fatigue” on the part of overworked staff members.

“Leadership at Walter Reed should have been aware of poor living conditions and administrative hurdles and failed to place proper priority on solutions,” the panel said in a summary of its draft report released at a meeting at Walter Reed.

The report called the current system for assessing soldiers- disabilities “extremely cumbersome, inconsistent, and confusing,” saying it must be “completely overhauled.” It called for the creation of a “center of excellence” on treatment, training and research on two conditions suffered by thousands of troops in Iraq: traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.