I agree that the refusal is pretty much bullshit. I can’t imagine the DoD’s reasoning behind this, but I’d love to know. It’s apparent that Mr. Berg is not a Bush fan - perhaps they were afraid he’d make a scene?
Uh, I thought he died because of a bunch of guys with big knives. Anyway, more than 10,000 Iraqis, and hundred of US troops, have died over the past year due to ‘Bushco’ policies, what’s one more drop in the bucket?
Anyway, weren’t you claiming the other day that the whole thing was faked?
Seriously, though, I think I’ll wait for more info before jumping on this particular bandwagon. Have the familes of service members killed in Iraq routinely been allowed to meet the planes bringing the bodies home?
Even if not, however, I’m not sure why Berg’s family would be refused permission to enter Dover AFB; hell, IIRC the base is the site of the Air Material Command museum, and the public is allowed in for that.
You’ve made this your personal crusade, Reeder, so I’ll ask this and leave the rest up to you:
Starting, say, with World War II and going up to the present, has there EVER been a war where the families were allowed to meet the airplane to collect their family member’s body? I did a cursory search and came up with nothing.
If the answer is no, if this is just a continuation of US policy, I would ask you to please knock this stuff off. If it’s yes, I’ll join you in your outrage. How’s that for a deal?
Thanks for explaining what ‘civilian’ means, numbnuts. Oh, and your concern would seem a lot more sincere if you actually knew the name of the person you are expressing such sympathy for.
Do you, by any chance, have any evidence at all that the White House directed the DOD to refuse the Bergs access to Dover AFB? If not, how do you figure Bush is personally at fault in this? Also, why would anyone deciding whether or not to vote for Bush come November weight this non-issue over all the other Iraq-related debacles that have come down the pike over the past few weeks?
I mean, really, man. You get one thread in the Pit to spew about Bush, and with all the dozens of legitimate gripes that anyone may have, this is the best you can come up with? Way to swing for the fences, big guy.
Anyway, keep up the good work, O master of the blindingly fucking obvious. The power of your mighty intellect, and your unerring nose for only the most pointless and irrelevant information, are sure to win the election.
By Reeder* “David Berg died because of Bushco policies.”*
I’d be more inclined to say that he died through misadventure, after having failed to exercize any level of prudence while in dangerous circumstances.
By Reeder:"And you would think that with the extroardinary circumstances surrounding his death you’d think that it would have been easy to give permission."
WAG is that maybe they wanted to give a mortician a chance to do some work before the family saw the remains.