It is unbelievable the arrogance and stupidity of the most senior VA officials. Dr. Michael Kussman only epitomizes this and should be included on the list of those who need to resign along with Ira Katz, Gordon Mansfield, and James Peake.

Instead of admitting there is a problem, he makes excuses. Instead of speaking about the one statistic which is important, the number of suicides, he cautions Thursday against overstating the problem of mental illness among returning troops and said most patients are satisfied with their treatment.

"We monitor outcomes and satisfaction of our patients, and they report very high numbers," Michael Kussman, the department's undersecretary for health, told a federal judge in San Francisco. "We have all kinds of performance standards that show that we meet the expectations of our patients."

But not a standard which measures the number of suicides and the total lack of monitoring the outcomes of attempts to seek treatment. And of course there is the bitter reality that a veteran who commits suicide cannot possibly have been satisfied. So Mr. Kussman, I think it might be beneficial if you resign, because you seem to be unable to deal with reality.

Kussman is another general more concerned with how the Department looks than with solving problems. The doctor can't stand that the IG criticizes his plan and the slow implementation of that plan. Again I would like to request that this idiot spend a month fighting in Sadr City and then tell me he is satisfied with the long waits vets must endure. Shall we all admit that the one thing Kussman learned in the military was how to CYA. But apparently not very well.

And again we have a senior VA official lying about treatment being provided when it wasn't. How else would one explain 12,000 suicides a year and claiming there was no attempt at cover-up. You have got to be kidding me. This is the man in charge of all medical care? AND YOU WONDER WHY there are problems?