Since the Persian Gulf war in 1991, the Pentagon has hidden photographs from the public that display the "dignified transfer of remains" of US soldiers that takes place at Dover Air Force Base. President Obama is considering lifting this ban on photographs of the procedure, which has taken place some 5,000 times since the beginning of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
This article brings up the question of the impact these pictures, if released, will have on the morale of the American public. Will America see the lifting of the photograph ban as an act of transparency? Will they view it as an honorable sight? Or will the image of dozens of coffins filled with the remains of US soldiers only increase the public's disapproval of the wars? When Obama is currently considering upgrading the number of troops in Afghanistan, I'm not sure this is the right time to lift the ban.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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3 comments:
While I do agree that media transparency is important, I agree that maybe this might not be the best time for Obama to lift the ban (in terms of political strategy). However, I do think that more attention needs to be paid to the loss of life that is occuring in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maybe lifting this ban would capture people's attention.
I agree with Mia's conflicted feeling, however, I really don't see what good could come out of lifting the ban. How much 'transparency' does showing these photos really create? Before the troop surge the NYT reported daily on the names and ranks of the dead soldiers and had numerous features on them. All the major nightly news broadcasts included the names and pictures of the dead at the end of the broadcast. What would it really accomplish to bring this up? My feeling is we have bigger arguments to undergo (failing economy, anyone...or even just focusing Obama's efforts as well as the Pentagon's on how to pursue a grand strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan)
I would defer to the wishes of families.
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