The cameras would help with other problems even after the foam problem is fixed. There will be other problems. Murphy is alive and well, and getting fat at NASA.
Chances are, another part of the report, not included in this story, recommends fixing the foam. What this article doesn't state, but I recall reading elsewhere is that the also recommend cameras on the external tank to image the bottom of the shuttle during ascent and just after separation from the tank. That way it someting falls off, even just ice, and damages the underside and leading edges of the wings, they'll at least know it.
Personally I think they ought to have a rescue capsule on a solid fueled rocket, ready to go, maybe even put it in one of the holes in the ground that the Air Force is not longer using, so that the readyness could be easily maintained out of the environment. It wouldn't need any long term life support/consumables, but it would need to have room for a maximun possible size shuttle crew, or you'd need more than one, which might end up being more cost effective, since you could probalby launch a smaller one on a solid fueled booster that would fit into a silo designed for Peacekeeper. You'd have to keep several on "standby" but that would be no different than the SAC guys keeping their birds ready to fly in the bad old days. Since no one would be onboard during ascent, the booster would not need to be man rated. It could be used for both the shuttle and the space station, even though the station has a Soyuz capsule docked at all times.
They show one dimensional pictures. Tile damage requires depth in order to gage it's importance. While severe structural damage could likely be seen, (big chunk missing)one dimensional cameras are almost useless and that is likely why they turned down the NSA sat help.
For example, if a tile three inches thick were gouged, there is now way to tell how deep. It might be possible to see a scratch but that is all.