Great Idea: Coffin Unloading Ceremonies Coverage now Banned by Administration

[tnitsuj]

from the Washingtonpost

Excellent stage managing....

So those people that die just disappear with no messy reminders to the public of the casualties.

 

[Horsep0wer]

agreed. although compared to most wars, the body count for US soldiers is still very low. still, i feel bad for the families that lose a loved one.

 

[lozina]

Step 1: Lift rug

Step 2: Sweep debris under rug

Step 3: Lower rug so all debris gets concealed


The amount of injuries is very high though, death count is low thanks to body armor and vehicle armor. But in some cases, having both arms missing is almost as bad as death

 

[tnitsuj]

"In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass "the Dover test," as the public reacts to fatalities. "

Eliminate "Dover test" Public Opinion much easier to manage.

 

[CaptnKirk]

I noticed that the article states that this policy was actuall issued by the
Pentagon in the last days of the Clinton Administration - but not enforced.

The concious choice by the Bush Administration to make this policy enforced
is, in my opinion a travesty, and a dis-service to those who have died in the 'alledged'
defense of this nation, those who perished in a needless action in a third rate counry.

Fitting enough that a Week-end warrior that went AWOL and was not persued for punishment
would not want his political record tainted by a display of fact in the loss of our men.
They don't like to show the terminal body count from this conflict, and will not even
come to the truth of the expent of losses through Wounded in Action our men have suffered.

Remember all those CowBoy movies - "Oh, Ill be alright - it's only a flesh wound"
Bullets and shrapnel isn't like that at all - it breaks bones, tears out muscle tissue,
and leaves hideoud grevious injuries - for that individual to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Sometimes a death is more welcome than the wound that was survived.

I resent this policy in the spirit of my fallen comrades.

 

[DealMonkey]

Yeah, the last thing you want to do is upset Wall Street with those nasty constant reminders of death and dismemberment from Iraq. It's baaaaad, people. Gotta manage this scenario veeeery carefully. Seriously, that whole "march to war" thing in the media nearly killed the market and the economy. What would daily pix of body bags and amputations do? Good gravy.

 

[Czar]

But the photos of coffins arriving at Andrews and elsewhere continued to appear through the Clinton administration. In 1996, Dover made an exception to allow filming of Clinton's visit to welcome the 33 caskets with remains from Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown's plane crash. In 1998, Clinton went to Andrews to see the coffins of Americans killed in the terrorist bombing in Nairobi. Dover also allowed public distribution of photos of the homecoming caskets after the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

so the trend is that if its good for the gov then show it, if its bad then ban it

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
"In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass "the Dover test," as the public reacts to fatalities. "

Eliminate "Dover test" Public Opinion much easier to manage.

General Shelton is absolutely correct, IMO.

 

[roboninja]

I don't know which side of the fence to be on here. Sure, it seems like the administration trying to "sweep things under the rug", but then we have the horribly exploitative media crashing what should be a private moment for hte families involved, IMO. At first read, I thought "it's about time", but thinking about the government obfuscation angle, I am not sure what to make of it....

 

[sandorski]

The Media should defy the rule or turn up the pressure elsewhere. This is pure shat, secrecy should be completely removed from government(except possibly in Research), to allow Government to control what the Public sees is to assualt Freedom and Liberty, the right to choose Government Representatives from an informed position.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: sandorski
The Media should defy the rule or turn up the pressure elsewhere. This is pure shat, secrecy should be completely removed from government(except possibly in Research), to allow Government to control what the Public sees is to assualt Freedom and Liberty, the right to choose Government Representatives from an informed position.

I mostly agree with the Canuck.
This "policy" never should have been enacted.

CkG

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: burnedout

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
"In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass "the Dover test," as the public reacts to fatalities. "

Eliminate "Dover test" Public Opinion much easier to manage.

General Shelton is absolutely correct, IMO.

That's nice burnedout, but do you agree with it......... of course he's correct as putting every arab in prison or out of our country would eliminate terror too, but hopefully we have'nt graduated to being militants.... IMO this clearly violates one of the tenets of democracy a government that speaks honestly to its citizenry so that it may make informed and reasonable decisions as well as freedom of press. Just another nail in the coffin of freedom and accountablity.

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: burnedout

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
"In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass "the Dover test," as the public reacts to fatalities. "

Eliminate "Dover test" Public Opinion much easier to manage.

General Shelton is absolutely correct, IMO.

That's nice burnedout, but do you agree with it......... of course he's correct as putting every arab in prison or out of our country would eliminate terror too, but hopefully we have'nt graduated to being militants.... IMO this clearly violates one of the tenets of democracy a government that speaks honestly to its citizenry so that it may make informed and reasonable decisions as well as freedom of press. Just another nail in the coffin of freedom and accountablity.

Well, I agree with your analogy to a certain extent. We, as a nation, sometimes find difficulty accepting the truth no matter how painful or haunting it may seem. Banning coverage of the coffin unloading ceremonies can readily be viewed as violating freedom of the press.

The questions are: Where do we then draw the proverbial line? After a relentlessly daily barrage by the media advertising such ceremony? Or should we stop coverage only after some among us have exploited the fallen for their own agenda?

We must bestow the highest honors upon our fallen as we owe them for the ultimate sacrifice. By the same token, however, neither they nor their family should become a victim of the media with its accompanying commercialization.

In some respects, I agree with the decision. In other respects, no, I do not. If the media, and I mean all media, would subscribe to customary ethical considerations regarding our deceased then I'd have no problem at all with it. An example of the problem is that we'll see two caskets unloaded at Dover followed by a TV commercial peddling tampons.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: burnedout

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: burnedout

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
"In 1999, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, said a decision to use military force is based in part on whether it will pass "the Dover test," as the public reacts to fatalities. "

Eliminate "Dover test" Public Opinion much easier to manage.

General Shelton is absolutely correct, IMO.

That's nice burnedout, but do you agree with it......... of course he's correct as putting every arab in prison or out of our country would eliminate terror too, but hopefully we have'nt graduated to being militants.... IMO this clearly violates one of the tenets of democracy a government that speaks honestly to its citizenry so that it may make informed and reasonable decisions as well as freedom of press. Just another nail in the coffin of freedom and accountablity.

Well, I agree with your analogy to a certain extent. We, as a nation, sometimes find difficulty accepting the truth no matter how painful or haunting it may seem. Banning coverage of the coffin unloading ceremonies can readily be viewed as violating freedom of the press.

The questions are: Where do we then draw the proverbial line? After a relentlessly daily barrage by the media advertising such ceremony? Or should we stop coverage only after some among us have exploited the fallen for their own agenda?

We must bestow the highest honors upon our fallen as we owe them for the ultimate sacrifice. By the same token, however, neither they nor their family should become a victim of the media with its accompanying commercialization.

In some respects, I agree with the decision. In other respects, no, I do not. If the media, and I mean all media, would subscribe to customary ethical considerations regarding our deceased then I'd have no problem at all with it. An example of the problem is that we'll see two caskets unloaded at Dover followed by a TV commercial peddling tampons.

I don't think they are showing them to make a profit. If anything the more somber and depressing and real images will make veiwers tune out. Just like victims jumping to thier deaths from the WTC... I think it's a case of public needs to know and the dover imagry cements that in thier mind.

Of course any Waring president hates it because his half-ass reasons (this includes clinton) begin to resonate with the people much more than just saying it and saying everything will be alright. he wants to hide it to complete the misson with the least possible flak. Well this situation is forceably removing the publics sentiment and the truth about war. In other words it's anti-democratic. And even worse, Bush, who had no qualms about using imagry from the USSRoosvelt for imforming the public of his success he wants to hide anything which could contridict this.


I agree with you about the press should respectfully do it. How about a bio of each soldier and talking to people from his home town?