Pentagon lets media see return of US war dead

Pentagon lets media see return of US war dead

news.yahoo.com

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. – The Pentagon's 18-year ban on media covering the return of fallen U.S. service members ended with a solemn ceremony for the arrival of a flag-draped casket of an airman felled in Afghanistan.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The lifting of the ban comes after a study, which has shown that Americans got other things to worry about than the fallout of US military adventures.

Another abridgement of freedom of speech no longer exists -- as if someone had even noticed that it was in effect.

What would be the real cause behind lifting the ban? Not the freedom of speech clause.




news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Government could be trying to make us more immune to death than we already are.
That's my view at the moment.

Originally posted by Tentickles
Government could be trying to make us more immune to death than we already are.
That's my view at the moment.

According to this

The ban was put in place by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, at the time of the Persian Gulf War. From the start, it was cast as a way to shield grieving families.

But critics argued the government was trying to hide the human cost of war. President Barack Obama had asked for a review of the ban, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that the blanket restriction made him uncomfortable.

Under the new policy, families of fallen servicemen will decide whether to allow media coverage of their return. If several bodies arrive on the same flight, news coverage will be allowed only for those whose families have given permission.

it could be a goulash of various interests. The impulse came from Obama, but it is hard to see why he asked for a review of the policy when it hasn't been a topic at all and why the change hit the news.

The Pentagon would like to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, but the wars are led by politicians who are mentally stuck in the Napoleon era. Maybe the Pentagon tries to open some weird gambit and the TV coverage of the "arrival of the dead" is a part of it.

I wonder if things start going bad for Obama in Afghanistan and the body counts start increasing if he is still going to be open to the same policy?


Only time will tell. Hopefully, I pray, that it doesn't go bad but that place seems to be a death trap.

Originally posted by Tentickles
Government could be trying to make us more immune to death than we already are.
That's my view at the moment.

That is an interesting take.

I don't see it that way, though.

When I was young, I remember watching the news, seeing soldiers drag their buddies who were wounded and dead, through the mud and muck in Viet Nam. If anything, it pissed people off. Those were the days when true journalism had it's members imbeded in the trenches, along with the military. We had protests because of what we could see.

We also saw flag draped coffins on the news.

If anything, since we have been guarded against these sights, with what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, I see an intention to rile people up, to give the authorities a reason to come after you for protesting.

We've been immune to death, and war, having been shielded from it for the last few years.

I think there are alterior motives with people now being able to view what is actually going on. I also see it as a way to detract people from what is going on with the economy.

Been there done that........there is a reason we are seeing this now.