The Scandal of US Troop’s Remains Dumped with Waste

The Scandal of US Troops Remains dumped with Waste

Major American and British newspapers and television stations were unanimous in their comments, made on 29 February 2012, on an important piece of news I wrote two days ago about how the remains of fallen U.S. soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan were disposed of after being incinerated in a landfill site for garbage and biomedical waste in King George County, Virginia. The Department of Defense had contracted a waste disposal company to undertake the task.

The latest news that the media has agreed to publish today comes with the headline; “9/11 Victims’ Remains Disposed of in Landfill.” The news broke at a press conference called by the retired U.S. army General John Abizaid, the well-known commander of U.S. troops during the Gulf War. He stated, ”We don’t think it should have happened.”

After the irresponsible and inhuman practices at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware were exposed by the Washington Post on 10 November 2011 in an article entitled “Remains of War Dead Dumped in Landfill,” secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was forced to form an independent committee headed by Abizaid to investigate the practices at the air base and how soldiers’ remains were handled. Before the committee had finished its task, suspicions were also raised about the remains of 9/11 victims at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, home to the Department of Defense. Several members of Congress, including New Jersey Democrat Rush Holt, applied pressure to the Defense secretary to reveal the fate of those victims, and to present the facts to the American public. Holt delivered a speech on 6 February last year saying, “Can the Air Force confirm that no 9/11 victim’s remains were incinerated, mixed with medical waste and sent to a landfill?”

And now the committee charged with investigating the practices at Dover Air Base has revealed that the disgraceful behavior involving the remains of corpses did also include 9/11 victims who were incinerated and disposed of along biomedical and other waste. It was also confirmed that the base has been mishandling troops’ remains in this way for more than eight years, eschewing any respect or regard for the remains of soldiers that sacrificed their bodies and souls for their country.

Due to the seriousness of this issue and the public discontent, particularly among the families and friends of the victims, the Air Force secretary Michael Donley acknowledged responsibility and said, “”We certainly have expressed our regret for the additional grief caused to families of loved ones whose remains were handled in – perhaps a less than ideal or, by some measures, even an inappropriate standard, prior to 2008.” The White House has not exactly been far removed from the scandal, and was forced to express its opinion on the matter. In a statement released on February 28, President Obama expressed his deep concern, and made a clear acknowledgement of what he called “the unacceptable handling of remains at Dover. “The statement went on to say that The United States has a solemn obligation to compassionately and professionally care for fallen service members and their families, and those we tragically lost on 9/11.

Occasionally the American media exposes scandals and shameful practices that politicians and the military in Washington perpetrate, not only on the world’s peoples, but also on the American people themselves. Do people really expect special treatment from the White House?