U.S. President Bush has ordered a thorough investigation into the medical care available to returning veterans in the wake of the scandal around firing of the two-star general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of “Catch-22.” The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of suicide... Disengaged clerks, unqualified platoon sergeants and overworked case managers fumble with simple needs: feeding soldiers’ families who are close to poverty, replacing a uniform ripped off by medics in the desert sand or helping a brain-damaged soldier remember his next appointment," Washington Post wrote of the disheartening medical treatment of American soldiers who have suffered wounds and other injuries in the war in Iraq.

Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman was relieved of his command on Thursday following disclosures that wounded soldiers who were being treated as outpatients in Walter Reed Army Medical Center were living in dilapidated quarters and endured long waits for treatment.

Army secretary Francis Harvey was forced to resign by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who said that "some in the army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation".

President George W. Bush said in his weekly radio broadcast on Saturday that he was appalled by the conditions at the prestigious army hospital, and announced an inquiry into veterans' care.

"This is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to the country and it's not going to continue," Bush said trying to control the damage suffered by his administration over the handling of the war in Iraq.

There are 50,000 sick and wounded US veterans of the Iraq war, whose struggle with physical and psychological damage upon their return back home.