...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Tuesday, April 20, 2004
      ( 3:46 PM )
 
What They Don't Want You To See

The Seattle Times published the picture the Bush people were trying to keep away from your eyes. It is a military transport full up with coffins draped in the American flag.

For U.S. troops, April has been the worst month of
this war, with at least 94 service members killed
by hostile fire.

"So far this month, almost every night we send
them home," Silicio said. "... It's tough. Very tough."

The remains arrive at the Kuwait airport accompanied
by a soldier, sometimes a comrade from the same
unit. On one occasion, the comrade was also the
victim's father. Another time, the comrade was the wife.

But Bush doesn't want this nation's newspapers to traffic in truth. Nope, everything that smacks of truth seems also to smack of anti-war rhetoric, according to the administration. And the Seattle Times had to defend its publishing the photo.

"The administration cannot tell us what we can and
cannot publish," David Boardman, managing editor at
The Seattle Times, told E&P Monday afternoon. "The
photo may have been seen as an unnecessarily
provocative anti-war sentiment," Boardman said, but
he explained, "We weren't attempting to convey any
sort of political message." He added that so far, phone
calls and e-mails from readers have been
"overwhelmingly positive."

Uh oh. The natives are getting restless. And why not. Iraq Casualty Count can hardly keep track this month. It's only April 20, and so far there have been 103 US casualties. That doesn't even count the horrible injuries, even ones that could bring death later. And from all accounts, it's only going to get worse.

This isn't about ego and pride. This isn't about "staying a course" that is destructive to everyone involved. This is about doing the right thing. Bush has shown us he is incapable of doing the right thing. In fact, no one on his staff or his cabinet seem to be capable of it either (unless they do try but have to resign in frustration and write about it later). November seems too far off to get rid of these people if it means there will be 600 more American deaths and thousands more Iraqi deaths or more before then.

Update: Just saw that Voice of a Veteran had this pic days ago - courtesy of Veterans for Common Sense, who have some striking statistics on their page.

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