November 11, 2003
The Coffin Ban
On this Veterans Day, the fuss over the Bush administration’s decision to prevent American media from showing caskets of dead soldiers returning from Iraq continues.
In March the Defense Department said, “There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein airbase or Dover base.”
Now, the once-limited rule extends to all bases.
Many have accused the Bush administration of misleading the public by hiding American deaths, and point to this latest policy as evidence that Bush and company are not owning up to their policies. But these accusers are the ones doing the misleading.
Preventing images of caskets being shown is not a political stunt. After all, we already know of their deaths. Numerous media outlets each day inform us of soldiers killed in Iraq, and I doubt a wee bit of casket propaganda will increase noteworthy information about the deceased.
Indeed, preventing a media circus centered around dead soldiers is priority number one for the Bush administration. Watching their sons, daughters, husbands and wives turned into pawns for purposes of a partisan battle between who's going to capture the White House in '04 is something families of the dead should not have to watch.
And we shouldn't want to watch it, because it's no way to cover a war.
Posted by Deleted Author at November 11, 2003 09:17 PMDustin, did you choke swallowing the propaganda pill or did it go down easy?
First, this issue goes back to Clinton, so it ain’t just a GOP sham.
Truth is, we do NOT hear about all the US dead and the imagery of the coffins arriving is needed.
It was never a media circus, even in Nam.
We deserve a right to see all aspects of the tragic war.
J
Posted by: jonesy at November 12, 2003 12:27 PMNice to know that dying for your country in a foreign land for questionable reasons will no longer make the news.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at November 12, 2003 03:58 PMSince when do you have to show the casket in order to report the death? It’s all about the shock value, and your only concern is for political gain, not for the life of the man or woman who died.
Posted by: Yukon Jake at November 13, 2003 02:48 AMWhat a farce. THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES THE NEWS is BAD NEWS. There’s a saying in the newspaper business: If it bleeds, it leads. The only thing the vast radical left media wants to do is take advantage of soldiers who have given their lives on the battlefield by politicizing their deaths. Anyone who doesn’t see this is guilty of the same shameful carelessness. If, 60 years ago, our country had been so filled with people who demand blood and gore and death for political gains, and if our media had been the Anti-American outlet it is today, we would all either be speaking German or already be dead.
How does a person not see that politicizing the deaths of soldiers is a direct attack on the morale of our OWN troops and therefore seditious in nature? I don’t understand it, but I have a prediction, I believe our Nation is being split apart, HUGELY, and the Wedge is being pile driven by the Radical Media and the liberal outlets. When the log of our Nation splits, I expect it will be ugly, and you as a citizen will have to ask yourself; which side am I on…? The right or the wrong. Do I support the murder of babies and the flooding of our country with illegal immigrants and the proven failure that is socialized medicine and moral repugnance in the White House and the elimination of Christianity from our society completely and the rights of NAMBLA Members over the rights of their children…
or…
Do you believe in freedom and patriotism? Do you believe that we should support our military who defend our rights or spit on them when they return battle weary and take advantage of the suffering of their families? Do you believe that a woman’s selfishness is NOT a valid reason to murder a late term child? Do you believe that the Victim’s rights are just as important as the accused or do you think it’s society’s fault when a deviant commits a crime? Do you want your tax dollars to pay for public radio that only presents the left side of the story? Do you want your children to grow up in a country that virtually breeds self-loathing in our education systems, and teaches our children that our country is evil and solely to blame for all the ills of the world? Like most rational people, you probably don’t hate America, and unlike the left, who would give our country over completely and turn this once great nation into a socialist and hedonistic society, you are proud of your heritage and hate to see History rewritten, Hate-America style, under the guide of “truth.”
Choose a side with your best interests at heart.
Posted by: Yukon Jake at November 13, 2003 02:49 AMYukon,
The left is the only hope for the US to not become a playground of immoral moralists on the right and fall victim to the same kind of totalitarian theocracy that has ruined great society after great society.
The right wing is the anti-American wing, and you can rest assured that the right will lose in the long run, becuase human nature is, indeed, liberal.
J
Posted by: Jonesy at November 13, 2003 09:56 AMIt is also ‘human nature’ to be sinfull……
Posted by: pizzahands at November 13, 2003 02:19 PMJonesy,
You astound me with your ideas. It is human nature to lie cheat and steal too, so being liberal by your own admission is acquiescence to all things ego. No filters whatsoever, no striving to be a better person, we’re all just liberal so get over it and join the dark side Luke. The right wing and anti-american thought go together like orgasms and appendectomies: you can never have both in the same week. Defend some of your statments if you disgree with me, explain how the right really hates america, your comments are ludicrous and so completely untrue they would border on hilarity if they weren’t so sad and indicative of a more pervasive liberal wool that has shrouded your, sadly, impressionable eyes.
Posted by: Yukon Jake at November 13, 2003 05:40 PM
Yukon, We are being hit with a steady stream of casualties from a country we supposedly overwhelmingly defeated more than six months ago. In the meantime, it seems like this administration has been too busy redefining the rules of combat to follow any rules that would seem to bring resolution to this conflict.
If Bush wanted to avoid the images of coffins coming off of planes, he should have never sent troops in to invade and occupy a hostile foreign country. This is the sacrifice that our men are making, and it is a perversion of that sacrifice that those demanding them will not allow those sacrifices to be brought fully home to the American people.
If Bush wishes to avoid criticism he can stop covering his ass, and start acting as a more competent commander in chief. Until we are out, and Iraq is secure, he deserves no reprieve, because he will not give that to our soldiers. It is the least he can do.
Posted by: Steve Daugherty at November 14, 2003 01:11 AMA few hours ago, I saw a leader of the National Gulf War Resource Center (ngwrc.org) on MNSBC’s Buchanan and Press. I don’t recall how he personally feels about this issue, but it seems that some veterans and military families want for the fallen soldiers’ funerals to be covered by the press.
I suggest reading the transcript of his statements on the show - they will be posted here shortly. There was also a controversy over the Pentagon’s handling of the disabled veterans regarding the attendance for a Veterans Day ceremony; I think it was mentioned that that NGWRC leader was quoted in a recent Washington Post article about that matter.
I just went to the NGWRC website, and I see there that they have information on this.
I also recently came across this news article, which pertains to the issue of Bush’s re-election. What that article reports is not too surprising; there has been a great deal of frustration among the military and veteran community in recent times, as well as over the past decade, due to controversies over issues of warfare and intervention, and the issues regarding the treatment of our heroic veterans by our government.
Posted by: Aakash at November 14, 2003 08:40 PM
