Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets

Washington Examiner.com ^ | 09/29/09 | Byron York

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Remember the controversy over the Pentagon policy of not allowing the press to take pictures of the flag-draped caskets of American war dead as they arrived in the United States? Critics accused President Bush of trying to hide the terrible human cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"These young men and women are heroes," Vice President Biden said in 2004, when he was senator from Delaware. "The idea that they are essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night so no one can see that their casket has arrived, I just think is wrong."

In April of this year, the Obama administration lifted the press ban, which had been in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Media outlets rushed to cover the first arrival of a fallen U.S. serviceman, and many photographers came back for the second arrival, and then the third.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Of course they don't show up now because Obango's in the hot seat....

[Dallas59]

The Chicago Olympics is much more important.

[The Louiswu]

I’ve noticed there are no more body counts in the papers, no more anti-war protests by code pink and their ilk, no more chanting about no-blood-for-oil or support the troops by bringing them home...it has evaporated, as if it never happened..odd

[BertWheeler]

The War in Iraq isn’t getting mentioned by name at all in today’s MSM.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The media in this country is a joke!

[GOPJ]

The effing media doesn't care if "the troops" have equipmetn either.

Anyone think they only "cared" because it was a way to beat up Bush? That's my take.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

I have always wondered if we were hit with a new terror attack whether a group of conservative lawyers could file a class action suit for billions of dollars for Americans against the American media named as a co-conspirator along with the Obama administration.

[TNCMAXQ]

This was totally predictable. Would have been the same if H. Clinton were president. Though the media adoration would not be as strong.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Several years ago I finaly quit watching PBS “News” type programs period.
Is MacNeil lehrer still on and do they still pause to “honor” the latest fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[vetvetdoug]

The MSM has proven themselves to be biased and prejudiced. There is no fair reporting in 99% of the newspapers and major networks. Even Fox is haphazard at best.

[GOPJ]

Though the media adoration would not be as strong.

You're right...

[BilLies]

Coalition Military Fatalities By Year and Month
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
2001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 4 12
2002 10 12 14 10 1 3 0 3 1 6 1 8 69
2003 4 7 12 2 2 7 2 4 2 6 8 1 57
2004 11 2 3 3 9 5 2 4 4 8 7 1 59
2005 2 3 6 19 4 29 2 33 12 10 7 4 131
2006 1 17 13 5 17 22 19 29 38 17 9 4 191
2007 2 18 10 20 25 24 29 34 24 15 22 9 232
2008 14 7 19 14 23 46 30 46 37 19 12 27 294
2009 25 24 28 14 27 38 76 77 70 0 0 0 379
Sorry about the misalignment, don't know how to correct

[BilLies]

heading missing s/b
Operation Enduring Freedom

[Obadiah]

Everything the left screams about, and the media support, is merely a lie to try and leverage power. Remember campaign finance reform? Remember Democrats and editorial board (is there a difference?) screaming to get the filthy money out of politics? Does ANYONE - anyone - hear about it now? See, when Republicans had a leg up on fundraising we needed CFR, but when Obama raised $750 million, much from foreign sources, we never again heard about the evils of money in the campaign system. And that’s how it all works with Liberals.

[CriticalJ]

Maybe the wacko protesters need to be reminded.

I would love to see 0bama getting hammered by the leftist idiots.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

With all the casualty records being set in Afghanistan, its pretty obvious now that the media was involved in a partisan effort to make the Bush administration look bad.

They can’t do that with their candidate though. As far as I can tell they don’t even cover the war any more.

And didn’t Obama promise to have the troops out by September?

[FreeAtlanta]

It’s not the only thing they have lost interest in. What about all the new homeless and where are all the jobless families going? There are A LOT MORE of them now than under Bush and the Republican controlled congress of his first 6 years.

[urtax$@work]

wait a minute..........

from Mar 03 to Mar 08 ==== 3,600+ fatalities

[BilLies]

These are for:
Operation Enduring Freedom
Coalition Military Fatalities By Year and Month

essentially Afghanistan, not including Iraq.

[Senator Goldwater]

The only casket State-run media is running to is their own.