CENTCOM has changed format - Deleted ALL KIA Press Releases

[markses]

We noticed this in another thread earlier. The latest two KIA Press Releases - which appeared on CENTCOM's cite as recently as the morning of 9/10, suddenly disappeared from the press release area of the home page around 11 am EDT 9/10.

Now, looking at the site, it appears that they have removed all older press releases indicating KIA's. Here's the site, and a description:

http://www.centcom.mil

Under the heading Latest Press release, organized in reverse chronological order (with the most recent at the top), CENTCOM would post ALL their press releases, including those relating to casualties. The bottom stories would drop out as the top ones filled in. Pretty standard "updates" screen, really.

That section not only no longer displays the latest two KIA's. Now NO MENTION of casualties appears there whatsoever! The bottom story is dated August 20. I know for a fact that there were at several press releases indicating KIA's between August 20 and today - because I confirmed any news story with the CENTCOM press release. Here's my list for that time period:

20-Aug
2 KIA: Small arms fire/ car accident; 1st Armored Division - Improvised explosive device, Baghdad
21-Aug
2 KIA: 1st Armored division - Fire breaks out at small arms range; Service member attached to the 1 MEF, shot in SUV, al-Hillah
22-Aug

23-Aug
3 UK KIA: Military police (UK) shot to death in Basra
24-Aug
2 KIA: 3rd Armored Cavalry - "drowned to death'; 3rd Armored cavalry - non-hostile gunshot wound
25-Aug
26-Aug
3 KIA: 3rd Corps Support Command killed by IED, Baghdad; 4th ID soldier hit by car; 130 Engineer Brigade dies of "non-hostile" gunshot wound: CBS news says self-inflicted
27-Aug
2US, 1UK KIA: 3rd Armored Cavalry - IED attack, Fallujah; 205th Military Intelligence Brigade - IED, Baghdad; British soldier shot to death in Ali al-Gharbi, outside Basra
28-Aug
1 KIA: "Non-combat causes" in Kuwait
29-Aug
2 KIA: 4th ID - Convoy attacked with RPGs and small arms, Baquoba; 4th ID - one soldier drowns when vehicle "falls in canal" near Tikrit
30-Aug
31-Aug
1-Sep
2 KIA: 2 - 220th Military Police Brigade killed in IED attack south of Baghdad;
2-Sep
1 KIA: 1 helicopter crash south of Baghdad
3-Sep
4-Sep
5-Sep
6-Sep
7-Sep
8-Sep
9-Sep
1 KIA: 3rd Corps Support Command killed by IED
10-Sep
1 KIA: Killed while investigating IED.

Each of those deaths corresponds to a CENTCOM press release which has vanished from the site.

I expect this is a new CENTCOM policy instituted a la Rumsfeld's visit. No more press releases of KIA's to appear on website. Strangely, in a search of news stories they allow, all the press releases of KIA's have been scrubbed BACK TO AUGUST 18 (or, in other words, far back enough to clean out the home screen Press release section).

This is a bizarre development.

[angka]

1. probably has something to do with

a forthcoming higher casualty figure which has not yet been disclosed.

there was a classified meeting last week on capitol hill in which it was disclosed that the true casualty counts in iraq are much higher than are being reported...and the real numbers are classified.

nora o'donnell (MSNBC) apparently made several oblique references to this but i am still looking for printed confirmation.

[markses]

2. Perhaps. this is new policy

It is interesting to see a policy change for a website like this before one's eyes.

New protocol at CENTCOM. I'm not sure if they will issue any more press releases at all, which may have the press and military families up in arms.

[Solly Mack]

6. Oh, it's already pissed us off...

they (CENTCOM) offer a FOIA submit form(which a group of spouses used) and offered them 100 bucks for the casualty reports dating back to April of 2003...We also let them know what a shame it was for CENTCOM to be now denying military spouses casualty info....and then charging us for it.


We'll see what the response is...

[grasswire]

5. I saw a senator say so...

...on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, I can't remember which Senator or which network.

[IndianaGreen]

9. The story was buried inside another MSNBC story

which means that there is no headline. I posted it in DU. Do a search in GD and LBN.

[sistersofmercy]

3. I agree and the al qaeda tape said ask your gov to be honest..

about casualties in Iraq. Which I thought was strange after the bombing in N Iraq. I think there were more US deaths there than they're revealing b/c of 9/11 and Georgie Boy's speech on Sunday. Wait a minute the al qaeda tape called for more deaths in Iraq, they don't want it in the news tomorrow.

[sistersofmercy]

4. OMG, it's 9/11 over there, oh my I hope I'm wrong but I think our boys..

and girls are getting majorly hit over there right now.

[Eloriel]

7. Bizarre... and very chilling

Very chilling.

Eloriel

[starroute]

8. Iraqwar.ru may be the best source at this point

http://www.iraqwar.ru/?userlang=en

At present, there are three relevant stories in their listing of today's headlines:

Suicide bombing at US spy base in northern Iraq "The six Americans injured were reportedly from the defence human intelligence service. This is a highly secretive service operating under the supervision of the defence intelligence agency, the US defence department's foreign military espionage operation."

A look at U.S. daily deaths in Iraq

Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 10th of September) {A very detailed breakdown, including graphs and lists of lost aircraft and vehicles.)

[sistersofmercy]

10. Thanks, hopefully I'm just paranoid and it's not too bad there today.

[FubarFly]

11. This is an outrage.

There has not been a single incidence of more than 3 US fatalities from a single attack as reported by CENTCOM since May 1st. There are on average between 10-15 attacks on US troops a day. They've been lying from the beginning and now the numbers are so bad, that they can't keep up the charade.


This is horrible. Absolutely devastating. We have no idea how bad things really are. The attempt to classify this is an absolute farce. WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW.

:mad:

[w4rma]

13. I hope I don't have to go back to getting accurate news about Iraq

from Iraqwar.ru, again. They were good during the invastion. They publishing abridged Russian Intellegence reports after Bush shot up the Russian ambassador's convoy on the way out of Iraq.

[The Night Owl]

12. Unbelievable.

How dumb do they think we are?

[leftchick]

14. Vietnam?

I am a little too young to remember. Was there a casualty blackout like this during the Vietnam war? I do remmeber seeing the soldiers fighting and wounded on tv nightly, but were the numbers killed and wounded reported daily?

[Walt Starr]

15. Casualty figures were reported daily

The propoganda trend back then was to counter U.S. casualty numbers with the daily "body counts".

Anybody who knows a vet who served in combat during Vietnam can ask them about what constituted a "body" during a "count".

Now, they just aren't going to tell us about the casualties any more.

The war in Eurasia goes well.

We have always been at war with Eurasia.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. There's a link at the bottom of the Centcom page to here:

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/casualties.asp

They've changed format onl. Still seems to be there.