Posted on 02/26/2009 10:53:08 AM PST by Ben Mugged
News organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America's war dead under a new Pentagon policy, defense and congressional officials said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to allow photos of flag-draped caskets at Dover Air Force Base, Del., if the families of the fallen troops agree, the officials told The Associated Press.
Gates planned to announce his decision later Thursday, they said. The current ban was put in place in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.
Some critics have contended the government was trying to hide the human cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The first, I suspect, of many more signs of disrespect for our service members.
Can they televise Islamic beheadings too?
It's Obama's war now.
Somehow, I feel as though the MSM will attempt to belay this directive as often as possible.
Why doesn’t he let Matt Lauer in on our soldiers’ autopsies too. What a jerk.
1991? Who Knew? :-)
The media will use photos of those caskets for their own political gain. The left not only doesn't have one collective brain between them, they don't have one collective heart either. They remind me of those demonic characters in the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers movie.
I suspect this will generate more negative opinion against future military efforts. People will be less likely to see the merit of any sacrifice for the national security of the nation.
Meanwhile they will continue to keep footage of people jumping from the World Trade towers from public view.
I don’t call them DemonRATs for nothing.
Too true...
This is disgusting. Our troops deserve better from their commander in chief.
Think Rummy would have stood for this?
It’s political necrophilia. The Left and their vile media lapdogs have no reverence or respect for the dead servicemen. They are using their bodies to further their political agenda. They did this during the Viet Nam war too. There are no words to fully describe how much I despise those people.
I’m thinking we need to pray that this will backfire on them, that once “America” sees the sacrifices being made, or the atrocities being committed by Islamic terrorists, the hue and cry will resound through the halls of congress, and re-awaken the sleeping giant. (But then, I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer.)
As this deterioration of respect for America and the American military continues, we will clearly see what a great responsibility President Bush shouldered each day as he was attacked by the Dimocraps, some Republicans and the media. President Bush deserves the respect of all of us, even those like myself who disagreed with some of his policies. What is happening to our country right now is the consequence disregard for true patriots. We have been led to the gates of socialism.
“Some critics have contended the government was trying to hide the human cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan”
Some critics my A$$! What they mean to say is that those who would wish to exploit pictures of dead soldiers for political gain will now get their way.
Can they televise Islamic beheadings too?”
Especially since one happened inside a Buffalo TV station??
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4361
#
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53250
Defense Department to Allow Photographs of Caskets With Family’s Permission
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2009 – The Defense Department will allow the news media to photograph the flag-draped caskets of fallen U.S. troops returning home if their families agree, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.
The announcement authorizes family members to choose whether to allow media access to the homecomings at Dover Air Force Base, Del., reversing a long-standing policy barring the press.
“I have decided that the decision regarding media coverage of the dignified transfer process at Dover should be made by those most directly affected — on an individual basis — by the families of the fallen,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.
“We ought not to presume to make that decision in their place,” added Gates, who began reviewing the policy at the request of President Barack Obama.
The Defense Department’s choice to shift course was informed by sources that include the military services and groups that represent military families, the secretary said.
But the issue created divisions within the department, Gates said, adding that he was rebuffed when he broached the topic last year, before reaching out more broadly during the most recent policy review.
“I had asked about changing the policy in Dover over a year ago and, although when I got the response that I did — which recommended no change — I accepted that at the time,” he said. “I must say I was never comfortable with it.”
The secretary has appointed a group to quickly develop a plan to implement the policy, which reverses the restriction put in place by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
Under the blanket restriction, the media has been barred from photographing the flag-draped caskets of about 3,850 U.S. servicemembers killed in action since 2001.
“I have tasked the working group to examine ways in which we might further assist the families of those who have made the supreme sacrifice for our country,” Gates said. He added that he expects the group to work under “short deadlines.”
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed that military families deserve foremost consideration in dealing with such issues.
“We’ve seen so many families go through so much, and in that, they have been extraordinarily strong,” Mullen told reporters. “And meeting their needs, their requests in the most dignified, respectful, focused way we can was very much a driver for me in supporting this change.
“Because it is family-centric here more than anything else, I’m very, very supportive,” he added.
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