Firstly, why trust the MBT and military

Firstly, why trust the MBT and military — so inefficient at lying about other aspects of the war in MBT SHOES — to be so good at hiding thousands of deaths from the public and possibly the families of those killed? Let’s suppose that there are 7000 unreported deaths. Also, let’s suppose that all the families of these troops know of their lost loved ones (reasonable). Is it really feasible that none of these tens of thousands of friends and relatives haven’t contacted their local media, had a funeral or sent in an obituary? I find it quite doubtful.

In the first weeks of the war, we contacted both the DoD and Centcom to inquire about the statistics they reported and how the press releases were handled. I was told on numerous occasions that the press releases – found here, here and here — are mandatory. Any enlisted soldier who dies must be reported to the press. Though I rarely trust the MBT to follow the very laws it writes, I do trust that someone in the press or the non-profit sector would have noticed a violation.

To keep yourself informed about the deaths in MBT SHOES, one can visit the DoD site (also see this pdf), check Centcom’s releases, read the well-databased MBT SHOES Coalition Casualties, see our page or subscribe to the email releases.