Is the government covering up troop deaths in Iraq?

A little background information: This weekend I went to a neighbor’s birthday party. I met another neighbor from down the block for the first time. We were hitting it off very nicely and having lots of laughs. I gave the birthday girl her present, the new Dixie Chicks CD and she proceeded to put it on. Everyone was commenting on how beautiful it was. The newly met neighbor piped in “I used to like the Dixie Chicks, but they shouldn’t have said what they did about our president and our troops”

Immediately, I felt my blood pressure shoot up. I responded “All she said was that they were ashamed that the President was from the same state that they were from”. She said that she heard that Natalie said all kinds of horrible things about the president and that these Hollywood singers should stay out of politics and the war. So I reminded her that just because they are entertainers, that they can still have opinions and can still participate in our Democracy.

Well she continues “I am very sensitive to this war, I lost my nephew in Iraq in August 2004, so I don’t appreciate anyone bashing the president or the troops. She then spouted all the RW talking points of why they are there and how brave Bush is for taking this on. Not wanting to make a scene at my friends party, I just said “I am so sorry for your loss and told her that we tried very hard to stop this war from starting and are still fighting to get our troops home” I also told her that I am sick that the American people don’t hear about the deaths of our troops or get to see their faces. I asked her for her nephews name and said that I would like to honor his service by using his name in a tag line so that people would realize that there are real people behind the numbers. She had no clue that there were almost 2500 killed so far. She said that would be very nice, then adds “Oh now I know who you are “You are the LIBERAL” (I guess there is talk in the neighborhood, LOL) and I can’t believe a Liberal would do something so nice for our lost troop”.

Anyway, the next day I look up his name in the registry and I can’t find it. Thinking perhaps I got the name wrong or spelled it wrong, I went down to her house and asked for the spelling. She showed me a write up on him for his 1st anniversary of his death. I took down all the information, searched again and his name is not there. Now I have read and heard about that if they don’t actually die on the field they are not counted as war deaths. I am puzzled as to what to do next.

Here she is thinking that her nephew died for a noble cause and the military is not even listing his death. I am not sure when I will be seeing her again, but I want to let her know how much this government really respects her nephews service and his loss.

How would you guys proceed with this? I will be out for awhile but I will check back later. Thanks all.

say how he died? Where?

Strange.

Let us know what you find out please.

So it was basically a memoriam from the family stating how much he is missed and loved and how they knew he was doing the right thing and thanking him for protecting our rights here at home printed in their hometown newspaper.

She gave me the date of his death. There was an accompanying picture of him in his uniform and Sgt. before his name. I think he was 27 years old.

I will keep you posted as I find out more information.

some that have been missed somehow. It has happened before.

It's an important question that needs to be answered out of respect for those that have died as a result of * co and corporate friend's war(s).

I will try using the filters and see what I can come up with. I appreciate you assistance.

....not be listed. OK, call me naive if you like but I truly did not know all allied/American deaths were not counted on the official lists.

As to how to proceed - Seems to me you have one of two options from here.

Option number one, drop the whole thing and forget it ever happened.

Option number two, and this is what I'd do, go back and ask her if she wants to hear what you found out about her :patriot: nephew.:patriot: If she says yes she wants to know then present her with the PROOF of the information you've just presented here and show her exactly what you just showed me and others.

Be prepared though, you may have to set with her for a while as she digests this - it isn't going to be pretty. :cry: I'm currently sick to my stomach and I haven't lost anyone THANK GOODNESS.:cry: In the end though she will at least have a bit more information on what this administration is truthfully up to.

their announcements being staggered to disperse large casualty announcements over several days. It can be weeks sometimes before a soldier has any contact with the outside world. A death could be conceivably covered up for a month.

But this happened back in August of 2004 almost 2 years ago. I will continue to look and see what I can find out.

BTW, I love your posts and the "undercover" work that you do.

but probably not undercover enough. If anyone wanted to analyze most of my posts they could figure out where I drive taxi. a lot of these soldiers tell me stuff I'm probably not supposed to know I was trained to report news, particularly news that some may not want reported, I'm going to keep listening and talking as long as I can.

Neither one is easy. Because I just can't let this go. I am going to try some of the suggestions that I received above and take it from there.

Can you believe someone actually said that they did not want to talk about the war because it is depressing and too complicated. My response was "We have to talk about this war, before there are another 2500 kids dead". I really could have gone off, but it was at someone else's home and the company was very one sided. Not that I couldn't have held my own.

one or two made mention that they are not supposed to tell anyone, family included, exactly where they are stationed. This could aid in confusing some numbers.

as much as it is about USA military casualties, which are pretty enormous compared to what conventional wisdom is. And I am not even mentioning tens of thousands of dead Iraqis and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi wounded that resulted from this, and for what reason or benefit again?