Connie Coyne
Reader Advocate
Posted on 04/24/2004 10:02:43 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Connie Coyne
Reader Advocate
Maybe it's the remembrance of the images of flag-draped coffins in movies about World War II -- those sad scenes so often punctuated by the sound of a single bugle playing "Taps." Maybe it's the memory of the more than 55,000 coffins shipped from Vietnam to the United States during that divisive, seemingly endless undeclared war. Maybe it's the crushed posture of grieving families walking the last few feet to the graveside of a loved one lost to a war in the sands half a world away.
It could be a combination of all those images that has led to a growing unease in the American media about the Bush Administration's policy of forbidding the release of photographs taken of flag-draped caskets as they are placed on air transports to be shipped to their families at home or photographs of ceremonies as the caskets are removed in the U.S.
According to White House and Pentagon officials, the policy was put in place out of respect for the families of casualties. That excuse is hogwash. There is no clue in the photographs that would identify what person's body is in what coffin.
This week, however, the dam on that policy broke. Following the release of one series of coffin photographs to the Seattle Times by a female employee of an American contractor in Iraq on Wednesday (she was fired subsequently), a flood of photographs -- more than 300 -- were released on the Internet on the Web site. The Memory Hole (www.thememoryhole.org) had filed a Freedom of Information request with the Defense Department for the pictures of any dead American troops arriving from Iraq at the Dover base in Delaware, according to The New York Times. Officials at the Pentagon went (I can't resist) ballistic, saying the release of the 361 photos was a mistake.
Information and photos appear in today's Salt Lake Tribune in the A section.
According to a copyright story by New York Times' writer Bill Carter, editors at papers across the nation had no idea that the Defense department was routinely taking pictures of the coffins as they arrived in the United States. Carter also wrote that the Pentagon said it was taking the photographs for historical purposes. One could infer from that explanation that the Pentagon hoped all of us would be dead before the photographs became public.
According to a Washington Post story by Blaine Harden and Dana Milbank, the media coverage ban was put into place by the Bush Administration just prior to the opening of the Iraq War in March 2003; reporters and photojournalists were forbidden to witness or report on the ceremonies for the remains of soldiers lost overseas. Editors protested this media ban -- pointing out that Americans had a right to get a full picture of the cost of war -- but their concerns were ignored.
"Respect for the families" is an excuse that does not hold water. The photos on the Internet depict the reverence shown by military personnel handling the coffins. This kind of respect by fellow military is meaningful to families who have lost husbands, fathers and sons, daughters and moms and wives to this conflict.
Photographs and stories about the human cost of war have a place in the press. Government cannot argue that such coverage gives military advantage to the enemies of America. No locations are disclosed, no plans are discussed, no measure of armament or placement is described. If a free country is afraid of free images, then we are in trouble.
Americans have seen their war dead come home before; they will see them come home in the future. To ignore their arrival is to offer them disrespect.
----------------------
The Reader Advocate's phone number is 801-257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com.
Since anything and everything is supposed to be fair game for the media, perhaps the author wouldn't mind seeing pics of herself on the internet in compromising positions or crying at a funeral for a friend or family member who died. Think about it, lady, it could be you tomorrow.
Photos of burning buildings and debris just don't carry the same weight as photos of dead bodies everywhere yet we still have not seen a single graphic image from 9-11. If that can be censored, I have no desire to see any other death images.
These reporters are "useful idiots". Their handwringing over the dead civilians and military personal killed by terrorist strikes (these aren't all Iraqis fighting and they don't wear uniforms) only cause more such attacks because the ENEMY is fighting this battle by pushing for a retreat of Westerners. They know that if they can find enough liberal handwringers to carry their water for them they will win. Kill someone today and it will get written about. They will someone again tomorrow because today's death got press.
I want to see this author tell us that we should retreat the next time there is a serial sniper shooting civilians in Washington DC. "Leave DC now, it isn't safe. We are only antagonizing the terrorists..." The right thing to do is capture and kill the terrorists. Evil thrives when good men do nothing.
I'm holding high hopes for photos of a few I can think of hanging from public utility poles. I expect that'll take care of the problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.