What The Army Doesn't Want You To Know

Change and transparency have been promised to be delivered by Barack Obama when he takes office two months from today, but that is a long time a way when it comes to cover-ups and the low level of trust Americans should have in their nation's military. The scandal surrounding the death of Pat Tillman was a sad story, but unfortunately this "friendly-fire" occurrence was not an isolated incident. In fact, it was one of the better ones because at least his mother could piece the details together, unlike what the army is doing with the similar tragedies that befell other troops.

From RawStory:

In late 2006, two American soldiers from Fort Carson died in Iraq. The army said the privates were killed by enemy action. But in October of this year, Salon revealed that the two men had in fact been killed by friendly tank fire.

Now, Salon has found that the documents related to the men's deaths were shredded just hours after the story was published.

"Three soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo. -- including two who were present in Ramadi during the friendly fire incident, one of them just feet from where Nelson and Suarez died -- were ordered to shred two boxes full of documents about [Albert] Nelson and [Roger] Suarez," reporter Mark Benjamin writes. "One of the soldiers preserved some of the documents as proof that the shredding occurred and provided them to Salon. All three soldiers, with the assistance of a U.S. senator's office, have since been relocated for their safety."

The night the Salon story ran, Oct. 14, 2008, a staff sergeant told three soldiers to shred two boxes of documents relating to the privates' deaths.

That is exactly the type of accountability (or lack there of) that needs to be quashed. If someone screws up, they must face the consequences of their actions. If it was a mistake by another soldier, then it should be dealt with out in the open, not hidden, not lied about and not leading to a situation that desecrates those that die from friendly fire. The families of our brave men and women need to be told the truth, even if it embarrasses the Pentagon.