Fallen Soldiers, Coming Home in Public?

[ezgoingrl]

My apologies if this has been posted.

*snip*
It was, after all, the embarrassment of a president that first led to the photo ban. In 1989, the TV networks showed a split screen of President George H. W. Bush in jocular banter with reporters on one side while on the other, the first American casualties from Panama were returning to Dover. A veteran himself, Mr. Bush was deeply embarrassed at the juxtaposition and asked the networks to warn the White House when they intended to use split screens again. They declined. At the next opportunity, in February 1991, during the first gulf war, the Pentagon banned photos of returning coffins.

It isn’t clear how much such photos sway public opinion; more than 4,000 coffins have come back from Iraq, largely unphotographed, and public opinion still turned against the war. Of course with photos, that opinion may have turned earlier, particularly in the beginning of the war when Mr. Bush was up for re-election.

“If the American people believe a war is worth fighting, then pictures of returning casualties won’t change anything,” said Ralph Begleiter, a journalism professor at the University of Delaware who prompted the Pentagon to release hundreds of pictures of coffins returning from Iraq. “The problem comes when there are doubts about the war itself.”



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/weekinreview/15seelye.html?_r=1

[Mari333]

1. This would have made a huge difference back then

and embedded reporters showing the casualties of the populace in Iraq would have also made a difference. People needed to see the truth and still need to see the truth. The Abu Ghraib pictures were one of the reasons people started turning against this sanitized occupation of Iraq. Its long overdue, seeing the truth.

[Uben]

2. Man, those Bushes sure hate America don't they?

They won't even allow a soldier the tribute they deserve even if they make the ultimate sacrifice! What is it about being a Bush that makes them such cold-hearted bastards? Must be in their genes.

[midnight]

3. “Dover Test,” an intangible measure of how many coffins Americans can stomach seeing.

The military has explained the ban by saying that it spares a soldier’s loved ones the hardship and expense of going to Dover to be there to greet the arrival along with the news media.

The ban on photography has been applied inconsistently over the years, he pointed out, suggesting to him that “the government is less concerned about the families’ interests and more concerned about controlling the perceptions of war.”

[tularetom]

4. That old fart daddy boosh should just eat shit and die

He was "deeply embarrassed" at being shown "in jocular banter with reporters" one one side of split screen while the other side showed coffins of American casualties from Panama. Then the stupid old bastard never should have sent them there in the first place and he sure as hell should not have engaged in jocular banter with anybody while they were there.

Getting somebody else's kid shot may not mean anything to a boosh but despite what they may think it does affect the rest of us. Especially when it's a dumbass war where they are shot in an effort to catch one fucking drug dealer.

[EFerrari]

5. BushCo knew we would fail the Dover Test.