Bush Criticizes the Release of Photos of Soldier Coffins (NYTimes)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

A White House spokesman, Trent Duffy, said on Friday that President Bush had seen photographs of the coffins of service members killed in Iraq arriving at Dover Air Force Base that were made public on Thursday and agreed with the Pentagon that releasing the photographs was wrong.

"We must pay attention to the privacy and to the sensitivity of the families of the fallen," Mr. Duffy said. "And that's what the policy is based on and that has to be the utmost concern."...

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/politics/24PHOT.html?pagewanted=print&position=

...fantasyland is over chimpy.

[SEpatriot]

1. Bush loves privacy...

when it comes to his policies. What a total crock!! What's next, banning the public from Arlington National Cemetery - respect these folks privacy, c'mon. He acts like there are reporters filming open-casket ceremonies against the will of their families.

Bush hates the truth!!!

[dennis4868]

3. Bush did not care...

about the privacy of a dead firefighter that was shown in his 911 commercial....

[Timefortruth]

28. Exactly.

The exploitation of human remains in a paid commercial is fine.

[saigon68]

33. The bush criminals want to hypnotize the public

Into believing their actions to garner massive corporate profits for their friends and their desire to "RULE THE WORLD" cost neither lives or money.

[mediaman007]

11. They fire a woman and her husband for taking photos...

but everyone in a position of responsibility during 911 still has their job.

And how about outing Valerie Plame? No one was fired for that one.

I'm sure the Freepers can justify all of this.

[tridim]

2. I suppose we should bury our dead soldiers in unmarked graves too

To respect the privacy and sensitivity of the families.

Bullshit!

There is no "privacy" issue with flag draped coffins. Bush doesn't want us to see them because he doesn't want us to equate his war with death. Period.

[Liberal Gramma]

4. Someone said it best who said

that the only family whose sensitivity and privacy is of concern to this administration is the Bush family.

[Guaranteed]

5. Oh, come on. No he didn't.

Bush hasn't looked at a newspaper in his frickin' life.

[LibDemAlways]

6. If the chimp had any respect for

the families of our soldiers, he'd have never sent them off to be killed in an illegal war based on lies in the first place. The blood of every person killed or maimed in Iraq is on *'s bloody hands.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. The Times' choice of headline wording is incredible

It really makes this seem like an entirely different article than the one titled "Bush backs policy restricting images of war dead"
I mean... this is incredibly critical of Bush. And it's by the TIMES!!!

[GoldenOldie]

8. The Bush Family Minds????

Let us not upset the beautiful minds of the Bush's.

[2Design]

9. Ted Kopple on Nightline just turned the tables on Bush on this

Ted talked about how back in when first Bush restricted the showing of the coffins was when the news did a split screen during a news conference and he agreed that was probably not a good thing

Then he goes on to show the one with a flag waving and a coffin and it being done in the spirit of patriotism.

BUT then he expands on that same image and says that when it is used in a political ad, it is inappropriate.....and they let the ad finish with George Bush walking and saying this is George Bush and I approve of this ad.

YES .....finally the news is going after this appointed president and his administration and the use of images in a VERY inappropriate manner while using politics to not show the american public the images.....

YEAH!!!!!! Score one for the good guys!!!

[MissMarple]

10. Yes, Americans need to see OUR war dead.

There is no sugar coating this. This is war. It is ugly, it is tragic, and it is hell.

[krkaufman]

13. quote

see quote; very good.

[2Design]

12. go to this thread

Ted Kopple slam dunk Bush


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1464701

[rooboy]

14. Name ONE family whose privacy was invaded by those photos... n/t

[NewYorkerfromMass]

15. Friday's editorial by the Times slammed the censorship

And ends with this incredibly moving sentiment: The least those of us back home can do is to bear witness to the sacrifice of the real soldiers as well as the fictional.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/opinion/23FRI2.html?ei=5062&en=d0e61df91dde7a57&ex=1083297600&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=

[wickerwoman]

16. But, but, but wasn't he moved?

Oops, I guess Bush is the only one who's allowed to be moved by photos of coffins. The rest of us should go back to our bread and circuses. We can't handle the truth.

[fishwax]

23. exactly

The response of Bush seemed to be "these photographs are moving and pay tribute and highlight the honor of their sacrifice and NOBODY SHOULD EVER SEE THEM!"

What a crock.

[Bozita]

17. mods: please delete

TIA

[Geo55]

18. New jobs program

[metisnation]

20. thanks for the pic

and welcome to DU

[teryang]

19. Totally arbitrary rule

The photos were released because the Pentagon had no legal authority to preclude their release. Their policy is completely illegal.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

21. CNN: "White House: Bush moved by casket photos"

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."
more

Which seems to be in contradiction of the NY Times piece, except CNN's headline is based on only the first half of the first sentence. The rest of the article is the big "...BUT..."

Hell, * could be "moved" by seeing a case of Lone Star.

[fearnobush]

22. They are so Full of Shit.

"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."

Those BUSH BOXES are anonymous and are mourned by all. Fuck you Mr, Bush, May you burn in Hell.

[ngGale]

35. Moved my a**, if he cared we would not be in...

this pickle in the first place. He doesn't equate war with death. It's not the families he's concerned with, it's his image.

[ugarte]

24. Keep their names secret, too

Why even tell the 'enemy' (and the American people) how many we've lost?

Nutty as it sounds, I'm sure this idea has come up.

[democrank]

25. I`m sure these sobering photos worried Bush`s costume designers

since they altered the administration`s carefully crafted war backdrops. The idea that we should sneak the coffins into the country when no one is looking is disgusting.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

26. Read the Times' editorial

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/opinion/23FRI2.html?ei=5062&en=d0e61df91dde7a57&ex=1083297600&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=
WE MUST BEAR WITNESS!!

[Timefortruth]

27. The issue is censorship and they make it privacy.

And the media plays along. How Orwellian.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

30. The issue is cowardice

and image consciousness by an evil and soulless man.

[fishnfla]

29. coffin photos dont jibe with the "mission accomplished" photo-op.

nt

[54anickel]

31. It's getting a lot more play in the media - this is going to backfire on

the Chimp.

http://www.southernillinoisan.com/rednews/2004/04/24/build/top/TOP001.html

snip>
Robert Mallory of Buckner, a World War II veteran, said he doesn't have any problem with the photos being made public. wanted to bring back the remains they could, but many, many American soldiers are buried in Europe.

"When I see a casket draped with a flag that means that person paid the ultimate sacrifice. Those people are heroes."

snip>
Art Lewis, a World War II veteran from Benton, also agreed that the flag-draped caskets should not be kept from the public eye.

"It's certainly not we want to see but it shows that somebody paid the ultimate sacrifice and it also shows that the remains of these soldiers are being treated with respect," said Lewis. "We know they are being brought back and I think the President should be there to salute each soldier when they return. These people paid the price for us."

/snip>

more...

Pentagon to review photo ban
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/04/24/pentagon_to_review_photo_ban/

WASHINGTON -- With unauthorized pictures of flag-draped coffins fueling an emotional political debate, Pentagon officials have agreed to review the policy barring photography when soldiers' remains are returned home, and the White House yesterday did not rule out the possibility that the ban will be revised.

"The policy is being reviewed to see if it needs to be more specific," said Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force spokeswoman yesterday.

snip>
But yesterday it appeared they would not rule out dropping or changing it if political pressure mounts. Asked directly whether Bush's message is that the ban will be maintained, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said, "The message is that the sensitivities and the privacy of the families of the fallen must be the first priority."

snip>
The National Military Family Association Inc., however, has taken the opposite view, which it repeated yesterday. "NMFA is concerned with the privacy of families of the departed service members and feels that sensitivity to the grief of surviving families should be paramount," the group said in a statement. "We further believe that how much the press is able to intrude at this very difficult time should be at the discretion of the individual family."

/snip>

http://www.nmfa.org/
Looks more like a PAC or lobbiest effort. Why would you charge families a membership fee?

[54anickel]

32. Kick for Pentagon to review photo plan

[cliss]

34. If Bush cared so much about the sensitivity to the family

he should not have put that family's child in harm's way to begin with.

[Th1onein]

36. EXCUSE ME?

It's only okay for the chimp fucker to use the coffins in his political ads, right?

[radfringe]

37. bush* approves

think this sums up the reality... scroll to bottom right corner
http://radicalfringe.freeservers.com/

[symbolman]

38. "MURDER BY NUMBERS" new Flash Movie by symbolman

I just created this over the past few days.. I think it's one of my best, but I always say that -- it's about the coffins, why they shouldn't BE..

I call it, "MURDER BY NUMBERS" -it's based on the song by The Police..

This time they've gone TOO F*CKING FAR.. these troops BELONG to the AMERICAN PEOPLE and their families, they are NOT Bush's personal little ARMY GUYS..

Here's the url if you want to have a look, and pass it on to your neighbors..

Turn up those speakers!

this takes BUSH to TASK. AND his Old Man, the other Butcher of Bagdad.

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/murderby.html

Bring them HOME NOW, before they have to come home in a box.