In 1989, President George H.W. Bush set a policy banning photography and videography of fallen soldiers returning home at Dover Air Force Base. This ban did not restrict the Pentagon from taking photographs, but even that practice ended 4 years ago at the height of the Iraq war.The policy has been lifted, and yesterday the news media was on hand to record the homecoming of Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers, killed in Afghanistan.
The photo at the left is from The Daily Beast blog on the issue of the war photography. I highly recommend the post, as it looks at the ban from inception to reversal.
In a country whose constitution so strongly upholds the freedom of the press, I honestly cannot conceive how the ban was permitted in the first place. If the photos of caskets embarrassed the office of the President or the Department of Defense, then they certainly should be more embarrassed by photos of soldiers and civilians injured, bleeding. Why would the government want to hide its honorable and ceremonial treatment of its dead soldiers?
In times of war, the media is even more crucial. The public wants and needs to know what has happened to their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and loved ones. If we are not forbidden from covering the suicides of veterans or the publishing photos of the Iraqi and Afghani children orphaned by the war, then we should certainly have never been forbidden from covering the sad but respectful return of our dead.
Democracy cannot succeed without the freedom of the press.
It seemed to me (and this may be the result of brainwashing by liberal college professors as my grandad says) that President Bush didn't really have a clear understanding or respect for any of the constitutional amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights. After all, he was responsible for the Patriot Act and the dubious incarceration and interrogation procedures at Gitmo Bay and around the world as well as being an advocate for a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage. Was there anything he did that didn't somehow infringe on our rights in the name of keeping us safe?
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