Pentagon To Allow Photos Of Returning War Dead

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is reversing an 18-year ban on news coverage of the return of war dead, allowing photographs of flag-covered caskets when families of the fallen troops agree, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

"My conclusion was we should not presume to make the decision for the families," Gates said in announcing results of a quick review of a ban that had stood through Republican and Democratic administrations.

Although details are being worked out, the new policy will give families a choice of whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the entry point to the United States for the caskets of overseas war dead.

President Barack Obama asked for a re-examination of the blanket ban and supports the decision to change it, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

"I have always believed that the decision as to how to honor our fallen heroes should be left up to the families," Vice President Joe Biden said. "The past practice didn't account for a family's wishes and I believed that was wrong."

Critics including some Democrats and liberal groups claim the government was trying to hide the human cost of war by preventing modern versions of an iconic image from long-ago wars: a line of flag-wrapped coffins coming home.

"We should honor, not hide, flag-draped coffins," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. "They are a symbol of the respect, honor and dignity that our fallen heroes deserve."

Lautenberg had written Obama this month asking him to consider lifting the ban put in place by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, at the time of the Gulf War.

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From the start, the ban has been cast as a way to shield grieving families.

Advocates for veterans and military families are split on the issue; some say they want the world to honor fallen troops or see the price of defending the country.

"There has never been a greater disconnect between those who serve in harms warm and those back home," said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "All too often, the sacrifices of our military are hidden from view."

But John Ellsworth, who lost a son in Iraq in 2004, said photographs of the coffins could be used as anti-war propaganda. "It's pretty obvious that the Pentagon did not discuss this with us," said Ellsworth, president of Military Families United.

He said lifting the ban was arbitrary and poorly thought-out. His organization asked, for example, what would happen if different members of the same family disagree on news coverage.

Gates said he is setting up a team to address such questions. It is not clear when the new policy will be fully in effect.

Gates is the only member of Republican President George W. Bush's Cabinet asked to stay in his job under the new Democratic administration. Gates said he was "never comfortable" with the media ban and had looked at lifting it more than a year ago, under the old administration.

Gates said that at the time, he deferred to advisers inside the Pentagon who argued that the prospect of media coverage could be an onus on vulnerable families.

"I was much happier with the answer I got this year," Gates said.

Gates said there remains a division of opinion inside the Pentagon about whether the ban is appropriate. But he dismissed as "ancient history" a question about whether the ban originated as a public relations strategy.

As of Wednesday, at least 4,251 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

As of Tuesday, at least 584 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Under pressure from open-government advocates, the Pentagon in 2005 released hundreds of the military's own images of flag-draped coffins from the two ongoing wars, previous wars and from military accidents. The photographs were released in response to a Freedom of Information request and lawsuit.

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Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defense.gov

Comments

[ohiomark]

These brave soldiers gave their lives for our freedom.

The least we can do for them is not use them as pawns for the anti-war lobby, because that is the only reason that the press wants to exploit these photos.

Everyone should watch the movie on HBO called "Taking Chance". It will show the proper respect that should be given to everyone who serves our country.

[1differentdrummer]

Wow, the reason public opinion forced the Pentagon to meet our returning dead with honor guards, instead of shipping them home as freight under Bush II, is to keep some lobby happy? Man, get back on your meds. These troops have given their all and deserve every bit of honor a grateful nation can give. How can they be honored if they cannot be seen? The Pentagon has released the names every week for ages, they're on Stephanopolous' show. I suggest you see the footage of Viet Nam, Korea and WWII, the dead were seen where they fell or floated, ours and the enemy's.

[PoliticalAmazon]

I think it is important to have the public ability to see the soldiers' coffins returning to our country because it is both a reminder of the loss, a cautionary tale of what our continued folly in the Middle East will cause us and, at least for me, it is the closest nearest I will ever get to being able to personally pay my respects for these soldiers who gave their lives because their country told them to.

The public should be able to see the results of our failed policies. We would ge outraged if the media was forbidden from showing the aftermath of Katrina, for instance.

But especially when the failed policies result in the deaths of loyal, patriotic Americans. We have to continually ask ourselves, "Is this stated objective worth the life of even one American soldier?"

[NWBrunette]

Can someone explain what this has or ever had to do with "grieving families"? With all due respect, there's not a name on the coffin, they don't even know if their child's coffin is in the picture. And they're just as likely not to even see any particular picture of flag-draped coffins. No one's making cartoons of the pictures, no one's doing satire on the pictures. Everything's been on the up and up with respect and honor all around. The only reason these pics were denied before was a vain attempt by the government to micromanage people's feelings about the war. It was never about "grieving families" - that was just the lame excuse du jour.

[grf67]

Finally, our soldiers and marines can get the honors they deserve rather than being pushed into the back alleys by bush.

[gdogs]

If you believe that showing the caskets is for honoring the soldiers then that's one thing. But for everyone on here that says "see the cost", all I can say is "f" you. These men and women aren't propaganda tools, and shouldn't be used by either party as one. You people make me sick.

[harriettubman]

I agree.

[fbr79]

I second that.

[phinney]

I'm a Navy vet and a Navy wife and I agree with you 100%.

If these photos were only used to honor them in a respectful manner that would be great, but that would be violating someones free speech. Those who have distain for the military, all they do, and all they stand for will use these photos also. That is the door that has been opened here.

[Mekarri]

Gdogs, trust me when I say you make us sick, and you are an idi.ot. The reason the war has gone on for as long as it has is because we haven't been hit over the head with the cost. Pictures are worth a thousands words. And I feel if we see these brave children coming home in a box, we will no longer be able to act as if these people lives means nothing. We won't be able to bury our collected heads in the sand. So pis.s off gdogs.

[NativeCanadian]

As a Canadian, I am so watching this story with interest. Our military is fighting right along with the US in Afghanistan. We have a small force compared to the US,however their sacrifices have been high. Our warriors are repatriated to Trenton Air Force base about 150 kms east of Toronto. There, the fallen are met by their families (I believe paid for by the Cdn govt) along with the full military honours befitting a fallen soldier.
The Canadian government tried to bar the media from reporting these repatriation ceremonies. Public outcry was huge. The govt held firm on their position until the people acted. How did they do it? After the ceremony at Trenton Air Force Base, the bodies of the fallen are driven along the 401 highway to Toronto for autopsies. The people lined to highway waving flags, saluting,some crying,all feeling the loss. They draped flags off the overpasses. The firefighters, police officers, veterans, school children, everyday citizens line the highway to pay their respects and honour their sacrifice.

The people also started a movement to rename that section of the highway and I am happy to report to you that is now known as "The Highway of Heroes". The government back down on the media ban
(the families have the final say).

Our participation in the war is a hot topic but the people refused to let the government put their own spin on the true cost of this war.

[Koreboomer]

Bush's photo ban was 100% politics...gotta keep those casket photos off the evening news. Joe Biden's comments were correct.

[phinney]

When it was Clinton's photo ban, was it 100% politics?

[DKLabRat]

The hiding away of your war dead - like they were America's dirty little secret - was just one more example of Bush's hypocrisy in supporting the troops with high-flying rhetoric while caring not one jot about them in reality. Not that he's alone. Our own UK politicians are just as guilty of that kind of public/private dichotomy.

[PoliticalAmazon]

I agree--it was like Bush (and, by extension, America) was ashamed of the soldiers for dieing, when--at least for Americans--nothing could be further from the truth.

[popart]

Are we really going to get America back from the talons of the last adminstrat­ion....can we really believe we will see truth and honesty a reality that is free from manipulation by political hacks?
Will the Defense Department be called the War Deparetment like it was when i was a kid. Well maybe not, "truth in advertising" can only go so far.

[Seattlelite]

I think it's important that we see the "cost of war" and I believe if pictures of our fallen soldiers coming from Iraq would have been on our TV's everyday perhaps Bush would not have gotten away with changing the mission in Iraq to justify staying there. Saying that, I want to hear from the families whose loved ones gave their lives. I've not been affected by this "invasion" therefore I don't have a vote what ever they decide I'm on board.

[1differentdrummer]

Render honors where honors are due.

[KJLSanDiego]

I did not agree with Bush on this one.
How can we honor our fallen heroes when we are not allowed to pay homage to their lives and their sacrifice?
To me, it felt very wrong to not honor these men and women with press coverage, with their families consent and approval, of course!

[Tim303]

Very very good news indeed. Reality.

[AnnfromCA]

I agree with Gates/Obama on this one. Ask the families. Then it's fine.

[osage]

If you have the intellectual and or emotional objectivity to view WAR in a political context, you've never been near one. I'll say it again....WAR is strictly personal. Those who don't understand what I'm trying to communicate to them personify why combat veterans rarely talk about their experiences. On returning from Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of damaged young men from my generation learned very quickly that their need to talk about the horrors they experienced resulted more in frustration and alienation than catharsis and compassion. Their words feel on "deaf" ears, and their damage had no place to go but inwards.

[AnnfromCA]

I remember.

[Tom95134]

We as a people need to give to those that have given their last full measure the the honor and respect they deserve. Is it too much to expect that the media provides the dignity that the arrival of a fallen one deserves? Can the media manage to be distant observers and can they keep from poking their cameras and microphones into the faces of the families?

The military makes a great effort to paint combat as "glory" and "fighting for one's country" (or today as a video game) but in reality combat is moving from one moment of terror to another. And the soldier more often than not is not fighting "for democracy" or "for freedom", he or she is fighting for that soldier next to them in combat because that is the extent, the horizon of their world at that instant in time.

But we should be able to see and participate in their homecoming and their embrace of that final resting place. In WW-II so many were lost and everyone understood that Gold Star in the window of a house down the street. Today, there are few windows and, thankfully, fewer Gold Stars but still we, as a people, need to understand the sacrifice and if it means participation through the media (when the family approves) then let those pictures on the television and in the newspapers serve as a Gold Star so we will know of the sacrifice that has been made in our name.

[dteg]

What was wrong with the old Vietnam policy. I am to young but soldiers funerals were treated with much respect then as they will continue to be. Just return to the Vietnam policy, it seemed from the old photographs very respectful.

[Havnagudtim]

I believe the viewing of the caskets is the ultimate public honor. How can we know the terrible price when it is all 'prettied up' and swept under the carpet? These families give their most precious young men and women to the maws of the w/ar machine, and their sacrifice has been paid a great deal of government lip service but very short shrift when it comes to actual support and post-traumatic care. These coffins, in their dreadful sorrow link us to their families as nothing else can. THERE. THERE are the poor broken ones, THERE are the heroes, let us bow heads and pray. Don't hide them!
All this palaver about 'protecting the family' is nonsense, the warmongers are trying to perpetuate the war by hiding the true costs from those who are not directly involved. Let the public see a few weeks worth of the actual, terrible price being paid, those fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, children, all the sorrowing families, and see just how the attitude towards the war will clarify. Justify these fatalities!

[KJLSanDiego]

I am 100% with you, H!