Warning: Fred Reed is an avowed conservative. Disclaimer: I know Fred. He has said nice things about my band in the past, and has given much sound advice on enduring the raising of small children.
He and Mark Morford are my favorite Internet writers. This apparently does not piss either one of them off. Go figure.
Anyway, old Fred has outdid himself on this article. Take a look...
The observant will have noticed that we hear little from the troops in Iraq and see almost nothing of the wounded. Why, one might wonder, does not CNN put an enlisted Marine before a camera and, for fifteen minutes without editing, let him say what he thinks? Is he not an adult and a citizen? Is he not engaged in important events on our behalf?
Sound political reasons exist. Soldiers are a risk PR-wise, the wounded a liability. No one can tell what they might say, and conspicuous dismemberment is bad for recruiting. An enlisted man in front of a camera is dangerous. He could wreck the governmental spin apparatus in five minutes. It is better to keep soldiers discreetly out of sight
http://www.fredoneverything.net/WarsAftermath.shtml