3.01.2009

pentagon reverses policy on hiding coffins of u.s. war dead

In case you missed it, the Pentagon has reversed their Bush-era policy of hiding the flag-draped coffins of US soldiers killed in Iraq. It seems that their lie - that the media was banned from showing the coffins to respect the families of the dead - was very successful (as usual), as all the stories about the change focus on that.

Once upon a time, the American public saw 58,000 of those flag-draped coffins, and that helped end the Vietnam War. This time they weren't so stupid.
News organisations will be permitted to photograph the return of coffins holding the bodies of soldiers killed in battle to the US if the dead troops' families agree, the US defence secretary has said.

Robert Gates made the decision to permit photos at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, should families consent to the move, following a review ordered by Barack Obama, the US president.

"We should not presume to make the decision for the families - we should
actually let them make it," Gates said on Thursday.

The ban on media coverage of US war dead being sent home began under George Bush, the former US president, during the first Gulf war in 1991.

The ban has caused considerable controversy, with critics alleging the US government was trying to hide the human cost of its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said the decision gave families the final say and permitted them "to make that decision and protect their privacy if that's what they wish to do".

The president was supportive of the secretary's decision, Gibbs added.

Legal challenges

The move was welcomed by some veterans groups, who said that the deaths should not be "hidden from view".

"The sight of flag-draped coffins is, and should be, a sobering reminder to all Americans of the ultimate sacrifice our troops have made and the high price of our freedom," Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told AP on Thursday.

However Meghan Tisinger, spokeswoman for Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, said the reported move showed "a complete disregard for the will of America's military families and the need for their privacy during this solemn moment."

There have been several legal challenges to the policy, with the Pentagon in 2005 releasing hundreds of military images of flag-draped coffins of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq following a freedom of information request and lawsuit.

A long time ago, I blogged about a Boeing employee who photographed coffins of US war dead as they were being loaded on a plane. She lost her job. I'm searching for the story now.

No comments: