The year in review: An image taken, a choice made, a life altered
The government didn’t want us to see the pictures of flag-draped coffins. Apparently, we weren’t supposed to be exposed to anything that might potentially make us question the cost of the war in Iraq. No, the last thing the Bush Administration wanted was for Americans to begin to realize that there is a pronounced and very human cost to their failed policy in Vietnam…er, Iraq.
In the “loose lips sinks ships” mentality displayed by the Bush Administration, and by extension the military, anything that doesn’t support the war in Iraq works against it. Never mind the fact that those are young Americans in those flag-draped caskets. Why SHOULDN’T we see those pictures? After all, those are our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, lovers, brothers, and sisters coming home in boxes. Perhaps if enough people begin to see and feel the cost of this misguided failure of a war, things will change. As long as BushCo continues winning the propaganda war, nothing will change.
If I hear one more person talking about how American soldiers are fighting in Iraq to “protect our freedoms”, I’m going to scream. “Better to fight them in the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah rather than New York and Los Angeles….” WTF?? At least one person was willing to bring us the truth…and she wasn’t even trying to make a political statement.
From her home in Everett, Tami Silicio spends many late nights in the Internet world of war veterans and support groups for families of soldiers in Iraq. They talk online about the war, about those who serve ó and about those who have fallen, the ones who return home in flag-draped coffins.
As a contract worker in Kuwait last spring, Silicio helped send many of those coffins home on cargo aircraft that flew to Germany and then to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. In April, Silicio’s life took a dramatic and turbulent turn after she photographed coffins lined up in an airplane fuselage and then e-mailed the image to a friend, Amy Katz, who passed it on to The Seattle Times.
On April 18 √≥ with Silicio’s permission √≥ the photo was published in this newspaper and then worldwide. The publication drew new attention to a Pentagon policy that sought to prevent media coverage of the transport of military coffins. It also prompted the contracting company, Maytag Aircraft, to fire Silicio and her husband, David Landry, for violating company and government policies.
Silicio’s firing gained as much media attention as the photo. She and Landry returned home to a frenetic round of media appearances. But the spotlight has long since dimmed. Silicio’s savings have dwindled, and she still searches for a new job….
“It depends on the day √≥ but the bottom line is that it helped a lot of people, and I’m glad it was published,” Silicio said. “I have seen so many acts of right come out of it and have met so many great people. It’s just an awesome gathering of friends that the picture has brought me. And for me, friends are forever, and money comes and goes.”
Perhaps Silicio was merely a casualty of her company’s attempt to maintain their lucrative government contract. Perhaps Silicio was a casualty of the prevailing attitude that “loose lips sink ships”. More likely, those in positions of power were legitimately afraid of the power of the photograph she gave permission for the Seattle Times to publish. In her own way, Tammy Silicio is a hero, though that is undoubtedly not what she set out to accomplish.
I read somewhere recently that something like 70% of those who voted for George W. Bush on November 2nd believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9.11. These are the people who believe that the war in Iraq is being conducted to “protect our freedoms”. These are the people too intellectually undemanding to seriously consider the facts. And yes, these are the folks that most need to see the pictures of flag-draped coffins being loaded on transport planes for the quiet flight back to Dover AFB.
Until Americans begin to look at the facts and begin to think for themselves, the Bush Administration will be allowed to wage war in our name without having to answer for their failed policy and complete absence of planning. More than 1300 Americans have died, and for what? It may not be politically acceptable to throw the words “quagmire” and “Vietnam” into the national conversation, but Americans need to know the truth instead of unquestioningly swallowing the Bush Administration’s disingenuous propaganda wholesale.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE KITTY LITTER, AMERICA! WE DESERVE BETTER….
