9/11 Remains In a Landfill: How Could It Happen?

It emerged yesterday that unidentified, cremated remains of some of the victims of 9/11 were unceremoniously incinerated and dumped in a landfill. No one knows how many people's remains were handled this way, since only the remains that already couldn't be identified ended up in the landfill.

There aren't many things more upsetting to us than treating human remains -- especially those of fallen heroes or members of the military -- with blatent disrespect. How could something like this happen?

The Week takes an in-depth look at some of the more burning questions: Who's responsible? How many? Have others been treated this way?

In short, the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base is responsible, no one knows how many remains were mishandled and yes, others have been treated this way.

The whole inquiry into how victims have been treated by our government started after a Washington Post investigation last year prompted the Pentagon to admit it had disposed of the remains of hundreds of service members in landfills, not to mention other awful mistreatment of bodies, The Week reports.

Read more at The Week

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