This "October Surprise" would sink the GOP

[auburngrad82]

On October 10th Camp Falcon, just south of Baghdad, was attacked by insurgents who managed to ignite the ammunition dumps, which exploded in a huge fireball. There are unverified reports on the internet that at least nine cargo planes carried the dead and wounded to a hospital in Baghdad. Yet the United States has released no casualties for October 10th. I find it hard to believe that the base could have been completely destroyed and the US could suffer no loss of life.

Is the military and the Bush administration covering up the casualties until after the elections? I'd love for someone to ask Tony Snow or Dubya why no casualties have been reported for Camp Falcon.

[madokie]

1. something is happening here and it is a coverup, if you ask me

[HereSince1628]

4. Something maybe but this story doesn't sound right .

9 cargo planes? Really? The ammo dump was in the outskirts of the city. I don't know much about Bahgdad but common sense says you fly cargo planes from one airfield to another.

Before I accept this story, I want to see a map that shows it makes sense to fly victims by cargo plane within a metropolitan area.

I could understand helicopters being used, but I gotta question cargo planes.

[Toots]

24. Exactly.. They don't send the injured to Baghdad they send them to Germany

The hospitals in Baghdad are not well supplied or staffed and are completely over whelmed by Iraqi injuries. The stroy is BS.

[StClone]

2. As Drebin would say...

...standing in front of the exploding fireworks factory, "nothing to see here folks move along."

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. K&R and ROLL TIDE! LOL check your PM Eagle fan n/t

[liberal N proud]

5. K&R

5

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

6. God, not this bullshit again.

Rumors on the internets are about as reliable as a coked-up Yalie bullshit artist.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. do you want to know what's NOT a rumor???

most of the embedded journalists (about 80%) HAVE been evicted from Iraq. got any ideas why ali-bush-baa and his 40 thieves would do that?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. That is beside the point.

It is fundamentally impossible to cover up large numbers of troop deaths.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

14. no, it's EXACTLY the point and answers your assumption based...

on what???

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

17. My "assumptions" are based on common sense reasoning...

...about human nature. Soldiers are human beings, not robots. Three hundred soldiers don't simply disappear off the face of the earth without many people noticing. They have families, and they talk to them. They tell them about what they're doing, where they're staying, etc. And a lot of their families live together on bases or near bases, and they talk to each other, too. For the Army to be covering up these deaths, they would need to be faking extremely personal communications, including phone calls, from three hundred people back to their families whilst simultaneously silencing every single person who knew about the coverup (read every single person who didn't die in the explosion/fire) lest they tell anybody about it. But even then you're still left with the problem that there are several hundred people who ain't ever coming home, so you've still got the same problem even if you did somehow manage to make the coverup work.

So I don't see where reporters enter into this at all. Reporters or no reporters, there simply isn't any way to cover up something like this.

[atreides1]

28. I disagree

"there simply isn't any way to cover up something like this."

Funny, the Russians were able to cover up the fact that it was Russian forces that were the ones who
were responsible for the Katyn Forest Massacre, the Germans were able to hide the facts about the deaths camps for years, and this administration has lied just about every step of the way in this war.

As for faking personal communications, with the NSA listening to coversations and the military keeping a close eye on internet traffic of troops, it really isn't very difficult to keep up a facade.

[peacetalksforall]

30. How many people know about the prisons in this country that

are all ready to take prisoners. How many people know that the President privately signed an act that will allow martial law - no questions asked?

A condition of people 'knowing' is really a bummer condition in this country of see no, hear no, and speak no concern for the country and what is being done to it.

[Hepburn]

23. I don't know...

...and just playing the devil's advocate...

How long did this stupid Repuke Admin cover up the torture and the hidden prisons???

I say that BushCo could, would and did cover up just about anything and everything. It's a trait of their leader ~~ starting with his drug addiction and being AWOL during Vietnam. It's just a lifestyle characteristic, IMO, which he has had from as far back as anyone can tell and which he brought with him to the WH.

I am not saying this did or did not happen ~~ all I am saying is that I would not put it past the assholes in charge to cover it up to the max.

Just a thought....

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

27. I'm certainly not saying that the Bush administration...

...doesn't cover things up. I'm saying that in this particular case they couldn't cover it up. I'm sure if they would, they'd tell you that no Americans have died in Iraq.

If anything is being covered up in this case, I suspect it is the number of Iraqi civilians killed by ammunition randomly raining down from the sky due to the ammunition dump fire. Likely they didn't even bother to find that out in the first place.

[auburngrad82]

31. I watch icasualties pretty closely

Usually at the end of especially bad months, the casualty reports dry up. Either they are slow at reporting the figures to take the sting off the monhtly total or they are pulling troops out of harm's way at the end of the month to hold down the figures.

Since the monthly totals always go up a few days after the end of the month I'm assuming they're holding back figures to take the sting out of the casualty reports.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

33. It should be easy to determine...

...whether the figures are being witheld by comparing the date of death to the time the military announces it. I suspect the icasualties folks might be able to tell you if this is the case.

[Hepburn]

34. I did not mean to imply...

...that you were saying that BushCo did not cover things up. LOL, we all know they lie, steal, cheat and cover things up!

What I am saying is that I would not put ANYTHING past them. And, I include this particular subject in that. Remember all the lies and BS rhetoric about WMD and the pics and reports that supposedly supported this lie?? If they can manufacture this kind of shit, IMO, they could manufacture anything ~~ including a cover up of massive casualties.

[donheld]

13. Yes, we've heard that

Now we need something solid to base these Falcon stories on, otherwise we look like fools.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

15. I'd say any reasonable person might base them on the media...

being removed from Iraq... well, not ALL the media. FOX is likely pretty well represented over there.

[donheld]

10. Indeed, Not this Bullshit again.

When someone comes up with some proof then I want to see it. So far all I've seen is conjecture.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. but still no one has answered my question... why were so many...

reporters pulled out of Iraq late last month? you can repeat the same crap all you want but not answering that question speaks volumes

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. It would help...

...if you provided some background on the issue of the reporters being pulled out (or ejected, whatever) last month.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Camp Falcon (pre-explosion) from Google Earth:

Here's Camp Falcon in relation to the Green Zone and Baghdad Intl Airport:


Offered up for reference purposes only - personally, I have no idea if there's a cover-up involved.

[Delphinus]

9. There's a thread on DU,

from last week I'm pretty sure, that says Seymour Hersh is investigating this. I saw the news reports from Iraq - they had a video from the scene with the anchor talking - and it was a MASSIVELY HUGE explosion.

[Lochloosa]

16. I think this is the one your talking about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0v1bIFup4

[FogerRox]

35. Watch this video, ITS HUGE, must see TV

Posted by Lochloosa

I think this is the one your talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0v1bIFup4

At about 3:56 in- the whole screen goes white from a flash of light- from an explosion. ITs stunning.

[screembloodymurder]

18. Even if there were no casualties

it's still a cover up. How does an event this significant go virtually unreported?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

21. It was reported.

That's why you know it happened.

[Dinger]

19. K & R

[elehhhhna]

20. I suspect there were casualties in the ranks of local hries and contractors. Look there.

[GeorgeGist]

25. Unverified reports on the internet...

might be a clue to wait for the proof.

[Pragmatic Pilgrim]

26. Urge the media to investigate!

I've sent this item to NPR's Morning Edition, urging them to query the military and administration spokespeople. Let's pressure the NYT, WAPO, CNN, etc., to dig into it RIGHT NOW! If it turns out to have been an unfounded rumor, that "news" alone--if the media were forced to broadcast it--would create another reminder to the public of the suspicion with which the administration's info is greeted. And if the administration stonewalls, or denies any American deaths without providing solid evidence, it still leaves many people wondering whether there's another coverup here.

Get it into the Mainstream Media!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

29. Unlikely.

There are zero credible sources for this story so far. None. And it originated on a conspiracy website with absolutely no attribution to back up the claims. No reputable news organization would touch this with a ten foot pole... unless you find a sex angle to it, in which case I'm sure they'll be all over it like flies on shit.

[savemefromdumbya]

32. send this to the New York TImes so they can ask questions

[Homer Wells]

36. A cover-up of this sort

could not last indefinitely, but I think it is within the realm of possibility
that this could be covered up in the short term, like say, until after November 7.

Bureaucratic stalling, internal misdirection, and the remoteness of the battlefield to most Americans, along with tightening of communications in and out of the war zone, all could make these rumors just rumors.
After the elections, the Regime could claim national Security as the reason from keeping this from the American Public for so long.

Never underestimate the lengths they will go to hold on to power!!