American Army general again accused of obstructing probe of US-funded 'Auschwitz-like' Afghan hospital
A two-star Army general, reprimanded once already for misconduct, is being accused of obstructing another investigation into patient abuse and fraud at a U.S.-funded hospital in Afghanistan made infamous for its grisly conditions, according to a new watchdog report. The Project on Government Oversight recently published a redacted version of the Pentagon inspector general report on Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton. It's the second time in less than a year Patton has been cited for his role in obstructing an official investigation into the conditions at Dawood National Military Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dawood, which has gotten millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer support, has been plagued by graphic accounts of abuse. Congressional hearings in 2012 aired accounts of "Auschwitz-like" conditions at the facility. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, at the time pointed to evidence of Afghan soldiers enduring starvation and "botched operations," and accounts that doctors conducted procedures "without anesthesia or painkillers." Doctors and nurses, he said, demanded bribes for care, and left patients who didn't pay to die "in their hospital beds."