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Pay no attention to the Truth behind the curtain

Posted by Bob on April 24, 2004

In Reply to: The photo posted by ESC on April 23, 2004

: : 'Seattle Times' Regrets Silico's Firing, Doesn't Regret Coffin Photo
: : By Charles Geraci
: : Published: April 22, 2004

: : The firing of military contractor Tami Silicio, whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of American soldiers killed in Iraq was published Sunday by The Seattle Times, was met with negative reaction from the newspaper. Still, the Times stands by its decision to run the controversial image -- and claims that Silicio knew the risks.

: : "I'm happy the picture is out, but it broke my heart when I find out she lost her job," said Barry Fitzsimmons, the paper's photo editor. "The Times is very sad that Tami [was fired]."
: :

: : DOVER TEST - "The Pentagon has previously acknowledged the effect on public opinion of the grim tableau of caskets being carried from transport planes to hangars or hearses. In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass 'the Dover test,' as the public reacts to fatalities..." Dover Air Force Base in Deleware has the military's largest mortuary, according to a Washington Post article. From "Curtains Ordered for Media Coverage of Returning Coffins" by Dana Milbank, Tuesday, October 21, 2003, at [Dead link removed - ed]

: The photo in question in the Seattle Times article is at
: [Dead link removed - ed]

We Americans (and our dupes, the "coalition") have a leadership devoted to secrecy and closed door deals. This terrible, impulsive, cowboy war has been mismanaged from the planning to the execution to the disastrous aftermath ... but the snake oil salesmen and spinmeisters have done everything possible to manage the public relations to conceal their failures. The 500 (so far) funerals will all be local stories, and families of the 500 dead soldiers will never get an apology from a President who gets his notion of "the right thing to do" directly from God. The release of these photos is an act of civic duty.

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