It is not clear as to whom the policy not to show flag draped coffins are protecting. Consider the history:
“BERLIN (Reuters) – A ban on media access to coffins of killed American soldiers as they are transferred to U.S.-bound aircraft at an airbase in Germany will stay in place despite calls to relax the rules, officials said Monday…
The ban was set up in 1991 but later relaxed, officials said…
Camera crews did film honor guard ceremonies and transfers of American-flag covered coffins onto planes headed for Dover after the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 and also during the war in Afghanistan, Young and other U.S. officials said.
But rules were again strictly enforced just before the Iraq war began.
The issue erupted when photographs of coffins appeared in the media after the Air Force released more than 300 pictures in response to a Freedom of Information request. More than 700 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, including more than 100 this month.”
For a list of the soldiers who died in the Iraq war thus far, CNN has a list , including name, age, rank, unit hometown, details of where the soldier died, and their picture. They do not have a picture of the coffin in which the soldier was placed. CNN also has a list of “Heroes of War.” These are soldiers, members of the IRC, and others “who — through feats of courage, nobility of purpose or life-risking situations — have become “Heroes of War.”"
Here is a list of websites that list similar information:
DefendAmerica.mil (U.S. Dept. of Defense News)
MilitaryCity
ABC News
Newsday
FoxNews
militarymoms.net
worldmag.com
USA TODAY
AntiWar.com
NEWSWEEK (through MSNBC)
Washington Post
Guardian.co.uk
Boston.com
Sacremento Bee
Considering how easy it is to get a list of casualties on the internet, including name, picture, and how they died, I am puzzled over the following:
Pentagon Furious About Iraq Casket Photos
“11:59 a.m. PDT April 23, 2004 – Photographs of flag-draped coffins bearing American casualties from Iraq should not have been made public under a Pentagon policy prohibiting media coverage of human remains, officials said.
Quite frankly, we don’t want the remains of our service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice to be the subject of any kind of attention that is unwarranted or undignified,” said John Molino, a deputy undersecretary of defense. ”
This was echoed by the White House:
“NAPLES, Florida (CNN) — President Bush was “moved” by recently published photos of caskets containing U.S. military personnel slain in Iraq but stands by his policy barring their publication, a White House spokesman said Friday.
“We must pay attention to the privacy of the families. That’s what the policy is based on,” White House spokesman Trent Duffy told reporters, describing that as “our first priority.”
Whom are we protecting? Why can the media give details on how these soldiers died but are discouraged from showing a flag draped coffin? Isn’t it more indecent to list how they died than showing a faceless flag draped coffin? Why hasn’t the military discouraged CNN, USA TODAY, FOXNEWS, etc from giving details?
Why does the White House loathe a flag draped coffin?
Well, I think that one of the reasons why the U.S. hates a flag-draped coffin is that it is trying desperately to fend off the inevitable and ludicrous comparisons of the war in Iraq to Vietnam. During the Vietnam War days, the television stations (all against the war) showed such images every single day in an attempt not to report goings on, but rather to turn popular opinion away from the war. I haven’t yet seen any evidence that similar images coming from Iraq wouldn’t be used for the same purpose.
Also, the showing of a person’s name, unit, and photo is a bit more respectful and human than showing a coffin. In fact, the only reason I can think of WHY someone would WANT to see a flag-draped coffin would be to point to it and say, “See! That’s the cost of this war!”
The coffin does not give any indication of who the person was, where that person lived, and how that person died. If the Administration wants to “protect the families,” that being their “first priority,” then showing a flag draped coffin is much less personal and hence much less potentially damaging to the family’s privacy. I imagine the Administration wants to protect family privacy. Why else would they institute a media ban?
If the Administration’s purpose is to make sure the public draws no comparisons between the Iraq War and Vietnam, then why not send out an education campaign that clearly shows why the two are not comparable? Showing the picture of the soldier and how that soldier died is much worse in seeing the “cost” of the war than seeing a sea of flag draped coffins. With a name and a picture, the dead are personalized. And now, with Nightline, they are televised. Why would FoxNews and the Department of Defense News show long lists of the dead? Doesn’t this have an effect much like a flag draped coffin?
I suppose many of the reasons are up for grabs as to their validity depending on your point of view.
Somehow, I don’t think that an “education campaign that clearly shows why the two are not comparable” is going to do much good. Many many pundits have already gone into why Teddy Kennedy’s assertion that Iraq=Vietnam isn’t at all correct, but it’s a lot easier to just make a simple, inflammatory statement than it is to actually put some serious thought into the subject.