AP Newsbreak: Army reviewing Afghan & Iraq casualty reports

[sabra]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15352597.htm

AP Newsbreak: Army reviewing Afghan & Iraq casualty reports
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - The Army has opened a re-examination of casualty reports on American soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since 2001, a response to complaints that it has not always given families accurate information.

The review covers hundreds of casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom - the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, two senior military officials said. It also includes American soldiers killed in neighboring countries in support of the two operations.

In coming weeks, the Army will issue a directive formalizing the review, according to two military officials. One spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because officers at the highest levels of the Army are still making minor changes. The other described the initiative in memos obtained by The Associated Press.

The step follows high-profile mistakes in informing families of the circumstances of soldiers' deaths.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. "American soldiers killed in neighboring countries "?? How many countries

have we invaded?

[MADem]

4. Likely Pakistan, in the tribal regions abutting Afghanistan. NT

[gratuitous]

2. I wonder if this will result in a revision in the casualty count?

Or will we the people be deemed unfit to know such things?

[MissWaverly]

3. how could you make a mistake informing of a death

I don't understand this, do you have any idea what they are talking about?

[gratuitous]

5. I think they're talking about the circumstances

It's not terribly unusual, I would guess, to get some of the pertinent facts wrong in the first report or two about a casualty. Usually the military is very accurate on the date and the identity, but as for the actual site of the action, who else might have been there at the time, what precisely happened, are all the kinds of things that get jumbled up in the first reports, particularly for the survivors of a traumatic event where one of your comrades was killed.

Mostly I'm going on experience dealing with witnesses and victims in car crashes. The first statements taken by the cops on the scene are often chaotic and contradictory. People who were looking right at the crash from different angles will tell very divergent stories. The folks who were in the vehicle will often misremember all kinds of details. The military, like personal injury attorneys, will often interview folks days or even weeks after such an event, and walk through the sequence of events as the investigator has been able to piece it together from the initial reports.

Sometimes the revisions to the facts make it back to the families, and I'd bet sometimes they don't. It seems like the military is doing a good thing here, making sure the families get as full a story as possible about their loved one's death. But I wonder if all the strands of these stories will be in one person's hands for oversight, and if there might be a change in the number of casualties that get totted up? There have been reports that the "official" number of military dead may be an undercount.

[MADem]

6. Well, Pat Tillman, for starters

The hero with the knife in his teeth and the posthumous medal ended up being a victim of friendly fire....

[arcane1]

7. If Jessica Lynch had died, that lie would have lived on too n/t

[MissWaverly]

9. well, I have heard that torture of soldiers has been hidden

Remember, Bushco, Spin/all spin/24/7

[MissWaverly]

8. oh, Of course, that has to be it.

[daleo]

10. They probably have to tidy up a few (hundred?) lies

I wonder who is putting the pressure on?

[SpiralHawk]

11. Bulletin: Commander AWOL & Republicons lying again

They lied America into these wars so republicon oil cronies could reap Massive Profits, and now they are lying about how many sons and daughters we are loosing in thiw War Based on BushCo-Republicon Lies.

[Solly Mack]

12. It took a year for one mother to get the truth about her son's death

I know this firsthand...

Another family didn't even know their son was at Walter Reed until calls of well wishes were relayed to them regarding their son's injuries

I know this firsthand as well