Posted on 09/06/2005 10:29:23 PM PDT by HAL9000
NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.
An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."
"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry.
The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.
The White House is under fire for its handling of the relief effort, which many officials have charged was slow and bureacratic, contributing to the death and mayhem in New Orleans after the storm struck on Aug. 29.
It is called common decency and respect for the dead. Sorry, NA, forgot is was the MSM under discussion.
They were posted online long before that. It might not have been on defenselink, but it was on one of the public military sites. I have about 10 DVDs filled with US military photos from .mil sites. I used to have an automated process that went out and grabbed anything new. I can get you more exact dates, based on file timestamps, if you want but it will take a little bit of time to find them.
The crappiest most tasteless picture I've ever seen in my local paper was of my cousin's bloated corpse, butt crack showing above his blue jeans, and the water line on the front page.
I don't know what the hell they were thinking publishing something like that.
Ehhhhhxcellent. Off to go read and bookmark... Thanks!
Releasing any statement about this is complete and utter stupidity.
Then what's the point of publishing it?
You don't want to respect the dead, that's your businesss, but most Americans would be highly offended by that kind of lack of respect.
I realize there are people who get some kind of sick thrill out of gore, but they're usually some pretty sick individuals. Surely you wouldn't be one of them, would you?
There would be a lot less murdered victims if that idiot Nagin actually thought to post some police officers at the superdome.
The photos taken during the Tsunami were done for ID purposes. The bodies were in incredibly bad shape and photos were taken to preserve what was left of them. This includes photos of any remaining characteristics such as tattoos, jewelry, deformaties, and anything else that could be used to potentially ID the bodies later on.
After the photos were taken, the bodies were buried along with numbers so if they were identified later, they could be dug up and given a proper cremation (this is Thailand). The photos taken of the corpses were posted publically in the hope that family members could possibly identify the corpses to find their loved ones.
There is nothing 'sick' about it.
The original intent of the photos is one thing, you passing them around the internet is quite another. Do you deny offering to show them to me, or that you've shown them to other freepers?
People also need to take into consideration that many of the bodies will never be found - the same was the case with the tsunami - the tidal surge comes in and then goes out taking many of the bodies with it.
Why would I deny it? I was contacted by a few FReepers, who will remain nameless, because they were curious about it. The photos are a matter of public record so I see no problem with someone seeing them. I extended the offer to you since in previous posts you expressed an interest in the subject. There is no thrill involved, trust me. My GF still has nightmares over taking them.
The people going through this horror have enough to deal with, the media has no business adding onto it.
I understand they are publishing these pictures in europe, well, I guess that's to be expected. They have to get their thrills somehow. Common things for common people.
Well, there are any number of angles from which we can view the problem.
But I look at it this way: we've rescued 38,000 people and rescue operations are still going on. So what about all the people who couldn't get up high enough and drowned in their house? How many people have died from thirst up in their attics? How many sick people died from heat exhaustion or lack of medical care? It's already been eight days.
120,000 people in New Orleans did not have personal transportation. Add to that the people who did have cars but chose to stay. Say 200,000 people stayed in New Orleans. 40,000 have been rescued. Another 60,000 were taken out of the Superdome and Convention Center.
Then you have to add in the dead from outlying parishes and Mississippi.
I think that 40,000 is a working estimate, but as you said, it's a conservative one. People need to be ready to see it go much higher.
I see nothing in the article (I assume it's posted in its entirety) that justifies the headline.
Is that your mama?
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