Saturday, November 18, 2017

How does the governor of Texas get away with ignoring the deaths of service members?

"Upside Down" is one of the 19 number one pop songs (BILLBOARD US singles chart) that Diana Ross has sang on. November 19th, she'll be on the live broadcast (ABC) of The American Music Awards to perform and to receive the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement. Motown Classic issued DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION November 17th to note this monumental achievement. That's this Sunday and her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross (BLACKISH, GIRLFRIENDS) will be hosting the broadcast.

THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL notes, "In operations related to Iraq, a total of 4,532 members of the U.S. military have died. Another 32,310 U.S. service personnel have been wounded in action. [. . . .] Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. ‎11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, as a result of a noncombat-related incident. He was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky."

And there is another death. Richard Schapiro (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) reports:

Sgt. 1st Class Hughton Brown, 43, was on his second deployment when he died on Nov. 14 at Camp Buehring, a base along the Iraq border.
The Defense Department did not disclose the circumstances of Brown’s death, saying the incident was under investigation.
But his family told media in Jamaica, where Brown was born, that the military told them he collapsed and died during a two-mile jog with colleagues.

Now let's go back to Lee Smith. Kentucky Governor Matt Blevins' office issued the following:

Gov. Matt Bevin Recognizes Sacrifice of Fort Campbell Soldier

Contact: Woody Maglinger
502-564-2611
Woody.Maglinger@ky.gov
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 13, 2017) – Gov. Matt Bevin today recognized the sacrifice of a Fort Campbell soldier, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, who died while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
According to the Department of Defense, CW2 Smith died Nov. ‎11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, due to injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Service arrangements for CW2 Smith are not yet complete. Gov. Bevin will order flags lowered to half-staff in honor of CW2 Smith on the date of interment, and encourages individuals, businesses, organizations and government agencies to join in this tribute.
For more information regarding CW2 Smith, media may contact the 101st Airborne Division public affairs office at 931-217-5074 or martin.l.odonnell.mil@mail.mil.

That's the governor of Kentucky. Lee Smith is from Texas -- a damn shame that the governor of Texas, Gregg Abbott, couldn't issue a statement.

For those attempting to keep track, Texas' Republican governor has now refused to note the passing of two servicemembers since October 1st: Lee Smith and Alex Missildine. Both were from Texas but apparently Gregg Abbott's been too busy to note their passings or maybe he just doesn't consider the deaths very important.

Does this really fly with Texans?

Their governor issuing statements on what happens in other states but refusing to even acknowledge the deaths of Texans who die when serving overseas?

He's running for re-election in 2018. Does no one think his refusal to acknowledge these deaths matters?

Seems like this is a campaign issue just waiting to be highlighted.

Yesterday, Chris Lamphere (CADILLAC NEWS) reported:

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. 11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, due to injuries he sustained.
Smith's mother, Sonya, said her son grew up in Cadillac and graduated from high school in 2000.
Sonya said her son began attending Cadillac Area Public Schools in the second grade.
During his time growing up in Cadillac, Smith enjoyed playing soccer, hockey, tennis and basketball.

Meanwhile, Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal "The Uncounted" (NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE) is garnering more attention.

‏Verified account @KenRoth

For US bombers in Iraq, targets hit (usually precisely) are ISIS until proven otherwise.
Result: civilian death rate is 31 times higher than US admits.

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Yesterday evening, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR) explored the issue:

ELISE HU, HOST:
The war in ISIS in Iraq and Syria is one that for the U.S. is mainly an air war. Officials say it's a very precise air war. But a recent investigation for The New York Times magazine finds it's not as precise as officials say. The report finds that 1 in 5 coalition airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq resulted in civilian deaths. That rate is 31 times higher than what the U.S. has acknowledged.
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Azmat Khan and her colleague Anand Gopal spent 18 months investigating this, going door to door in the Iraqi city of Mosul. And they found that while some of the civilian deaths were because of a proximity to a legitimate ISIS target, many others appear to be the result of flawed or outdated intelligence. And the military is not keeping accurate logs of its actions. Azmat Khan told me about one Iraqi man named Basim Razzo and what happened to him on a night in 2015.
AZMAT KHAN: Basim wakes up in the middle of the night at around 1:45 a.m. in his house. And he realizes his bed is snapped in two. He feels this incredible pain. He can taste blood in his mouth. And he looks up, and he sees the stars over Mosul. He calls for his wife, and he calls for his daughter. And he doesn't get an answer. And he learns that his wife, Mayada, his daughter, Tuqa, his brother, Mohannad, and his nephew, Najib, have all been killed in an airstrike.
And not long after he leaves the hospital, a video is uploaded to the U.S.-led coalition's YouTube channel showing two airstrikes hitting two homes. And the video dubs this an ISIS VBIED facility, a car bomb factory. So Basim, who sees this video, later immediately recognizes these two homes as his and his brother's.
MCEVERS: And did the U.S. coalition count Basim's family as civilians - people who'd been killed as civilians?
KHAN: Not for a year and a half, and they very likely would not have counted them as civilians had we not pushed his case. He and his family members, the four members who died, were tallied as ISIS.

Jennifer Kahl‏ @jnj_kahl Nov 17

#US Civilian Deaths 31x's Higher. Destroying Hospitals Government Buildings Crippling Societies Infastructures to keep the "Endless Wars" & need of presence Remember they are "Liberating You" Do you feel liberated? #Iraq #Syria #Libya

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