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A new Pentagon report claims that the unidentified remains of some victims in the Sept. 11 attacks ended up in a landfill, and this comes just months after a similar scandal in the Air Force prompted some much-deserved outrage. In December, the Air Force admitted to disposing of the remains of 274 soldiers in a Virginia landfill. It seems today's news comes from a Defense Department review of the mortuary at Dover prompted by the Air Force story, and it uncovered that not just soldiers, but "several portions of remains” from the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania ended up there. It's hard to pick a more sympathetic group than soldiers and 9/11 victims, and obviously, we should be incredibly critical of the oversight that leads to these kinds of improper burials. But it's worth noting that after the Air Force persecuted and attempted to fire the whistle-blowers who exposed the scandal in the Air Force, Tuesday's revelation appears to come from a Pentagon's own report. So at least, we can credit them for public self-appraisal and the 2008 change in policy that requires unidentified remains be buried at sea.

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