The picture that George W. Bush doesn't want you to see

[SOteric]

Thursday, April 22, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Woman loses her job over coffins photo

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter


A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday's edition of The Seattle Times.

Silicio was let go yesterday for violating U.S. government and company regulations, said William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft, the contractor that employed Silicio at Kuwait International Airport.

"I feel like I was hit in the chest with a steel bar and got my wind knocked out. I have to admit I liked my job, and I liked what I did," Silicio said.

Her photograph, taken earlier this month, shows more than 20 flag-draped coffins in a cargo plane about to depart from Kuwait. Since 1991, the Pentagon has banned the media from taking pictures of caskets being returned to the United States.

more...http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001909527_coffin22m.html


original Times article at...http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001906489_kuwait18m.html

[coloradodem2005]

1. unbelievable.

Another example of unfair limitations on freedom of speech. I think this woman should be commended.

[wtmusic]

2. Another shot in the foot

Great PR, Washington. Thanks!

[phoebe]

3. Someone's head is going to roll on this and it won't be pretty

the admin. will more than likely regret making this move.

[drfemoe]

4. I hope she believes it was worth it ..

It STINKS .. someone should hire her for a promotion. BTW, she wasn't working for the Pentagon, who is the one with the ban, right? But I guess the transport company is ...

People who don't understand human nature are VERY ineffective leaders.

[SOteric]

5. That's correct, she did not work for the Pentagon

she worked for a defence contractor.

[Dover]

6. Well, maybe at least she'll get to leave the Middle East.

I sure wouldn't miss being there.....

[wickerwoman]

7. Not just that, they fired her husband too.

Vindictive shitheads, aren't they?

I'd love to see this posted at Free Republic.

[BritishHuman]

44. That pisses me off.

They fired her husband too - what was the cause for his dismissal? How did HE break the terms of his contract? That is nothing more than "punishment" for her. That's got to be illegal.

[BostonTeaParty04]

8. She really LIKED her job????

I guess loading coffins of dead americans could be a thrill for some.... but good god. Maybe she meant she 'appreciated' her job -- no doubt paying $500 a day....

Well, those were the only coffins any of us would have ever seen. So bless her... it needed to be seen. That's just TWENTY out of over 700 (americans, that is).

[DS1]

48. She's a freight loader, the coffins were the exception not her job

Which was probably what lead her to taking pictures, since nobody else was.

[Wonk]

9. Here it is cropped square and avatar sized. Anyone who wants to use it is

welcome to do so.

[JaySherman]

12. Wow, that is one intense Doonesbury strip in your sig.

Where did you find it?

[Lorien]

15. Today's strip

there were several threads about it earlier. A number of papers didn't want to run it because it was too "violent" and "controversial" (like the war isn't??!)

[strategery blunder]

29. Thank you

I think I'll change my avatar now.

[AlFrankenFan]

10. Oy that's not a good sight...

One thing to hear a number of dead, another to see the coffins of the fallen lined up like that.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Think about this, There's 5 times that many this month, - so far

.
.
.

(sigh)

[AlFrankenFan]

28. Jeebus...ya know?

n/t

[JaySherman]

11. Is it true that the Pentagon banned coffin photos back in 1991?

I thought this directive was issued last year, courtesy of the current maladministration. Can anyone confirm this in either case?

[drfemoe]

16. Haven't googled it ..

but, yes I have read that Clinton put the ban on during Kosovo .. but .. we didn't lose any soldiers in that *war*, did we??? That's what Clark supporters used to say anyway. IOW, hmmmm. Investigation time.

[JaySherman]

18. 1991 would have been Bush I.

Meaning Gulf War I.

We've got three different sets of dates here. Time to do some googling.

[drfemoe]

24. Good Article

<snip>
None of this happens in public view. A Defense Department edict issued in 1991 during the Persian Gulf war keeps reporters and television cameras away from the somber ceremony known as "dignified transfer" that unfolds as the remains are taken off the planes.

During the Vietnam War, images of caskets by the hundreds being unloaded at Dover had a powerful impact on the American public. The images evolved into a kind of political shorthand: Could the nation's resolve survive the "Dover test"?

The media blackout enables the military and policymakers in Washington to sidestep the question. A White House spokesman declined to comment on the policy.

Since the ban was initiated more than a decade ago, there have been few exceptions. One was the return of 17 sailors killed in the suicide bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000, in the waning days of the Clinton administration.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.dover17feb17,0,2835624.story

[July]

19. What I read was that Bush I put this policy in place,

and that it was not followed during Clinton's years, although it was not rescinded. Bushbaby reactivated it, I believe.

[rumguy]

13. fucking sad - those pics tell an important side of this story

there's no doubt in my mind her firing was political, trummped up BS...

[ContinentalOp]

14. That's so disgusting.

It's sickening that they are censoring these images. But maybe it's good that she was fired. She should get a new job as a JOURNALIST since none of them are doing their jobs.

[Q]

20. How can the Pentagon 'ban' the free press...

...from reporting the truth? How is this possible?

[WillyT]

21. If We Had A Real Free Press, They'd Throw A Fit, And Publish This...

in every newspaper in the country.

Sigh...

[SOteric]

22. Kick! - for the morning crowd.

:kick:

[Dark]

23. I am curious.

What happened to our first amendment?

[apnu]

25. It died an undiginified and quiet death years ago n/t

[truthspeaker]

26. the press isn't banned from showing them

The Pentagon just doesn't let photographers anywhere near military coffins or funerals.

There are a whole bunch more at the Memory Hole.

[mr blur]

27. Anyone remember who said...

"The first casualty of war is The Truth"?

[pianogirl]

30. How to save coffin photos and other info censored by Pentagon

Everyone: as soon as photos or information appears on the
Internat that the Pentagon or White House doesn't like, it
starts disappearing. When you notice something like these
coffin photos or the photos of maimed soldiers during the
beginning of bush's war a year ago, and realize you may be
seeing them for the first and last time, here's what to do.
Click File, Save As, rename the photo if the name given is too
long, e.g. coffin photos.htm, hit save or go.  It will be
saved to your hard drive and you can then disseminate it
anyway you'd like.  Be sure to add the .htm or .html on the
end of all Internet images. I saved the sad and gory photos of
our captured and killed troops (remember a year ago?) and they
disappeared within 2 hours. I later pulled them up and emailed
them to a family hawk (don't we all have one?) who kept
sending cute little jokes about anti-war protesters and
pro-bush propaganda. I sent it to him AND all his stupid
friends. Embarrased him so at least I'm off his list. These
dummies need to see the REAL lives that are being affected
tragically. We need to save the images because the Pentagon
and WH had NO RIGHT to censor what is going on and affecting
our country.

[redqueen]

31. That's a great idea

Is there some website that allows you to post these images for free so others can view them?

Is there a site currently collecting / publishing these photos?

[newyawker99]

33. Hi pianogirl!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[seemslikeadream]

35. Question please?

I have saved pictures to my computer but don't know how to bring them back to DU. When I saved them they had a bmp at the end?

[skip fox]

32. And Drudge is posting more...

http://www.drudgereport.com/dover.htm

[OneTwentyoNine]

34. They died for Halliburton's BILLIONS...sickening to say the least

These pics need to be shown World wide...

[koopie57]

36. Rest my buddy

Rest my buddy
sleep in peace
let not your mind hold idle pain
nor fear of battle
nor that you may have died in vain

No my buddy
sleep in peace
you were one of the best
You fought by my side buddy
through each rough and terrible strife
Until at dusk one evening
A sniper's bullet took your life

I grabbed you buddy as you fell by my side
I cried when I knew you were dead
But we'll meet again in heaven
Where no fairwell tears are shed.

(found under my daddy's pillow the day he died)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

37. Welcome home, brothers and sisters. Welcome home.

I am just too disgusted to say anything witty even.

[mb7588a]

38. A kick for our friends and family that are still in harm's way.

[Iris]

39. kick

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Dulce et Decorum Est

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.


--Wilfred Owens

Welcome home...

Taps will play for you, and you will not be forgotten

[Dying Eagle]

41. Kick

God bless them. They fought and died for us. Lie or not. They will be honored like all before them.

[DanGough]

42. As Country Joe and the Fish said

The old line from Country Joe that says "By the first ones on your block to have your boy come home in a box" unfortunately still rings true.

www.ltobs.blogspot.com

[seemslikeadream]

46. your boy come home in a box

"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Oh, I mean, it's, not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

Former first lady, Barbara Pierce Bush. to Diane Sawyer in April 2003





Flag Decal Heaven, by John Prine
While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus: But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

Repeat Chorus:

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...
Repeat Chorus:

[AgadorSparticus]

43. people need to see this and spread it far and wide.

kick

:kick:

[0007]

45. btt

[symbolman]

47. Brand new FLASH Movie by symbolman

I just created over the past few days..

I call it, "Murder By Numbers" based on the song by The Police..

Here's the url if you want to have a look, and pass it on to your neighbors..

this takes BUSH to TASK.

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/murderby.html

[spanone]

49. My hat's off to her. Thank you Tami, you did your country a service.