You've Got (Upsetting) Mail

So, Bush is planning on sending another 20,000 troops into Iraq to try a little lipstick-on-pig fixup. Of course, there's that nagging problem of where the hell he's going to get these thousands of people willing to sacrifice their lives for his sham.

Well, how about the dead?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army said Friday it would apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty.

The letters were sent a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100 Army officers who had recently left the service. Included were letters to about 75 officers killed in action and about 200 wounded in action.

"Army personnel officials are contacting those officers' families now to personally apologize for erroneously sending the letters," the Army said in a brief news release issued Friday night.

The Army did not say how or when the mistake was discovered. It said the database normally used for such correspondence with former officers had been "thoroughly reviewed" to remove the names of wounded or dead soldiers.

"But an earlier list was used inadvertently for the December mailings," the Army statement said, adding that the Army is apologizing to those officers and families affected and "regrets any confusion."

Now, I'm a little hesitant to simply bash the Army for making a mistake that, on the surface, looks pretty ghoulish. I've worked at many, many jobs over the years that rely on name databases that would have to be a drop in the bucket compared to the one the Army must use, and there are always going to be errors like this. Still, receiving something like this in the mail right before the holidays must have been devastating. It's encouraging to see that the Army is still able to admit mistakes without scrabbling for a scapegoat, and make amends. It would be nice if their Commander-in-Chief could do the same.

(Oh, come on, I had to throw something in there bashing Bush... the wingnuts wouldn't have anything to complain about if I didn't!)