Fighting the War on the cheap, Example No. 438

Here's the headline from a front page story that ran in yesterday's Washington Post:

"Military considering new cremation policies"

Are you wondering why they are considering new cremation policies? Because apparently some of the fallen troops returning to Dover, Delaware, were sent off to two crematoriums, one of which had this sign out in front of it:

"Friends Forever Pet Cremation Service."

Maybe that's why the military has banned photos of dead servicemen and women returning home in flag draped caskets. It would be too embarrassing for the American people to watch the caskets unloaded AT A PET CREMATORIUM.

Here's what the SECDEF said about the whole matter:

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates believed the earlier situation was "insensitive and entirely inappropriate for the dignified treatment of our fallen," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

"Our heroes deserve to be better treated than that," Morrell said, adding that a sign at one of the crematoriums noted that it also does pet cremations. He said Gates offered an apology to military families for the insensitivity.

How did this story come to life?

"Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, Air Force staff director, told Pentagon reporters that it is not uncommon for crematoriums to provide both services.

Klotz said the issue came to light Friday when an officer who works in the Pentagon went to Dover to pay respects to a fallen comrade who was being cremated. The soldier noticed the pet cremations sign, and was concerned about the fact that the facility handled both human and animal remains.

The officer alerted senior officials at the Pentagon, who notified Capitol Hill and quickly pulled together the policy changes. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, sent a letter to Gates calling the report "very disturbing."

Is this really the first time anyone has noticed where our fallen troops have been cremated? Are you honestly telling me that no one else has noticed this over the past 6 years??

I think this is just another in a long list of examples of how this war was misguided from the beginning, mismanaged from about March, 2003 onward, and how every choice we make is guided by one overriding principle: the financial bottom line. It would not surprise me in the slightest to find that this Friends Forever Pet Cremation Service came in with the lowest bid for cremation services.