Bush Bans U.S Soldier's Coffins From The Airwaves

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Pictures of the coffins are not banned. What is banned is pictures of the coffins being loaded and unloaded from aircraft in transit from the war zone to their destinations.

[edit on 04/9/1 by GradyPhilpott]

in other words, anywhere you could see more than one or two coffins at a time. and maybe even *gasp* count them!

you know what i think everytime i see a coffin with an american flag draped on it? my thoughts are thoughts of sadness and respect for troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice. and bush won't have that, cause what if we all started feeling thoughts of sadness at the scale of american deaths? what if we all started feeling respect for the sanctity of our soldier's lives? why, his support for his war might dwindle, and he'll be left looking like a chump (to put it lightly).

i don't think you can see the names on coffins from most footage, so how does it cause distress to the families to see anonymous coffins in the newspapers? i mean what? it might remind them they've lost a loved one?

the political exploitation you speak of occurs through the banning of footage previously considered legally broadcastable. bush has taken the proactive move here, not the people opposing this form of censorship. there's exploitation here all right, but not coming from where you think.

-koji K.

[edit on 1-9-2004 by koji_K]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Pictures of the coffins are not banned. What is banned is pictures of the coffins being loaded and unloaded from aircraft in transit from the war zone to their destinations. The families of the deceased can then make the decison of whether or not to allow the media to cover the funerals of their loved ones.

Anyone who makes an issue of this is guilty of the worst kind of exploitation of the grief of families to further their own cheap political agendas. Anyone with a screen name like bushblows should be automatically banned from the board. It is obscene and show a general lack of respect for the nation and its ideals. Disagreement with the policies of any President does not give one the right to be so outrightly disrespectful and so blatantly ignorant of the facts.

[edit on 04/9/1 by GradyPhilpott]

Well thank you very much for that Hitl.....I mean..... Seriously, you want people banned because of a name like Bushblows???? Then I question how much you really enjoy the first amendment and what is SUPPOSED to make this country great, and an exception. And hell yes disagreement with policies of a President gives someone a right to be disrespectful. People don't have to show respect to ANYONE they don't want! Geez! Where do you come from!!!??? Why don't you change your name to CaptainCensorship, the false defender of our Constitution????

Please let me clarify. No one should be allowed to use a screen name such as Bushblows. I was raised to show respect to those who hold offices of power, even when we do not personally respect the individual. We called it dignity. There are legitimate criticisms and there is outright crassness. I'm sorry if this is above your capacity to understand, especially if you are an American.

[edit on 04/9/1 by GradyPhilpott]

You now, it's funny. You hit the "reply" button, then forget what you were going to say! Geez. What was it? Oh yeah. Bush blows.

Originally posted by nanna_of_6
Of course the crazy dictator doesn't want those coffins shown, especially right now with only two months to go till Nov. elections. Just imagine how the Citizens of the U S A would react to seeing, what, close to 1000 coffins of our dead soldiers being delivered back to us because of a war that a insane madman started on a country that had done nothing to us.
When's the insanity going to stop ,..... after all our troops are slaughtered or will the citizens finally get a "clue" and vote the dictator out of office

. I'm for getting rid of the jack-a$$ in Nov., before it's to late for all of us

The Citizen's of the United States NEED to see what the effect has been due to the cause

Probably why 1000 of the protesters were arrested. lol. He's such an

Simple truth, I totally agree with you and the others that feel that our Nation has the "right" to witness our soldiers coffins being brought home in order for us as a Nation to show our respect for them. It would not "kill" Bush to take the banning off, matter of fact, I beleive that for every plane full of coffins that arrive back in the US, I think Mr. Bush should give prayer over them along with a priest, chaplain, pastor or whoever Bush would ask to give a small sermon, as they arrive back home and it should be shown by the media for the world to witness, after all it is only right that Bush should show respect to the men and women that have died for his cause, but no matter how much we think they should be shown,..... it will never happen because Mr Bush wants to hide the truth from us and hisself. If I was in his shoes and thought the way he does, I suppose I would try to hide it from our Nation and myself too, that way I wouldn't have to face the "fact","truth" and all the "families" pain , that I was the one that sent them to their deaths, but I'm not Bush and I do not think the way that "little" man does.

As the saying goes,...... Out of sight.....Out of mind. That's how this Republican president wants it. He makes me

Well according to Cheney the War on Terrorism will last our lifetimes, so get used to a steady trickle of flag-draped coffins for the rest of your life and remember, they died to keep you safe.

Yes. And Bush blows.

Hey I wanted to use "Bush Was Head Cheerleader In Highschool" but it was too long

Actually wish I hadn't used Bushblows - I keep being attacked for being a "liberal" on threads.

Just because someone is in a position of power doesn't mean they are "good" & worthy of respect. Any sociopathic wingnut can rise to the top. History has proved this again and again.

To those who are giving me a hard time for having the tag Bush Blows:
do you all commute into NYC daily on a subway?

If the answer is "no" (which I assume it is) I can't take your opinions seriously.

Many New Yorkers initially supported Mr. Bush. His using the Twin Towers
as a lure to send thousands of young Americans to their deaths *for oil* changed our minds.

He has shamed the WTC.

Re: the coffins. The govt should not be able to censor such images.
Bottom line.

In addition....where is the nightly media coverage of the 7 thousand
+ US casualities? We keep hearing "1000 dead." Where are the scores of young men missing TWO LIMBS on the television?




















[edit on 16-9-2004 by bushblows]

[edit on 16-9-2004 by bushblows]

1) An overreach of power by the executive branch that facilitates the misconception that our wars are prosecuted at 10,000 ft. People get shot in the face, land mines blow of limbs - regardless of the tremendous outmatching of firepower.

2) Complicit Corporate media - it helps thier FCC market monopoly quid pro quo not to press this story.

All of the avodiance to the nastiness of death & maiming during warfare allows idiot Americans to be desensitized to the point where flags fly from cars along with magnetic yellow "ribbons" , and the mindless are stage managed into cheering for this war & president like they are cheering the local footbal team.

One of the primary things that ended the Vietnam war was media coverage.....think on tht one for a sec.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Please let me clarify. No one should be allowed to use a screen name such as Bushblows. I was raised to show respect to those who hold offices of power, even when we do not personally respect the individual. We called it dignity. There are legitimate criticisms and there is outright crassness. I'm sorry if this is above your capacity to understand, especially if you are an American.

[edit on 04/9/1 by GradyPhilpott]

I don't believe you are a Vietnam Veteran. Vietnam Vets know full well
how brutal - and cowardly - armchair warriors can be & seldom advertise
their veteran status by adding visual aides to their internet posts.

A dignified person doesn't say: "Bring it on!" while others are being decapitated and maimed.

It's a New Yorker's God Given Right to use crass language.
Bush blows his nose often. Why pretend otherwise?

Bout Time - you are right - media coverage helped end the Vietnam War.
Our current admininstration is aware of it, too.

[edit on 16-9-2004 by bushblows]

Originally posted by curme
You now, it's funny. You hit the "reply" button, then forget what you were going to say! Geez. What was it? Oh yeah. Bush blows.

curme, , now that's FUNNY , I could not have said it better myself,

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Well according to Cheney the War on Terrorism will last our lifetimes, so get used to a steady trickle of flag-draped coffins for the rest of your life and remember, they died to keep you safe.

That "FIGURES",..........only "Tricky Dickie" and " mamma's boy" George W., would use antics like this to keep terrorism alive in the United States.

I'm sorry but, Bush&Co's attack on another country for personal gain by mis-using and sending our troops to the deaths IS NOT keeping me or other citizens safe .

The only way to keep America "SAFE" is to bring our troops HOME so they CAN protect us .

Originally posted by bushblows
Actually wish I hadn't used Bushblows - I keep being attacked for being a "liberal" on threads.
[edit on 16-9-2004 by bushblows]
[edit on 16-9-2004 by bushblows]

bushblows, keep the name,......... they'll have to get over it, or maybe not, but they will attack you at any rate if they see that you do not agree with "Hitler", ....... I mean Bush.

Nanna - thank you.

Here's an article which gives info about the coffin ban. The Bush administration didn't put it into effect - they reinstated it shortly before the Iraq War began.

US media snap up pictures of returning coffins By Caroline Overington, Herald Correspondent in New York
April 24, 2004

The US air force has released 361 photographs of the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers to an internet website, angering the Pentagon.

The photographs - which were taken by the Department of Defence at an air force base that doubles as a soldiers' mortuary in Dover, Delaware - were apparently released in error on Thursday to a website called The Memory Hole.

They were quickly picked up by media organisations across the US, which are banned from taking similar photographs.

Several newspapers in the US were yesterday planning to use the images - which are mostly of coffins containing the remains of soldiers killed in Iraq - on their front pages.

The photographs were released just one day after a 50-year-old civilian contractor, Tami Silicio, was sacked from her job loading cargo for the US military in Kuwait, for taking a photograph of flag-draped coffins that she saw in the back of a plane.

Ms Silicio's photograph was first published in the Seattle Times last Sunday, and in the Herald yesterday. The Fairfax newspaper group, which publishes the Herald, paid Ms Silicio for the right to use the image.

The new batch of hundreds of photographs was released to Russ Kick, who operates The Memory Hole website, after he requested them under freedom of information legislation.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jennifer Cassidy of the US Air Force said the request was first denied by Dover air force base then approved on appeal to the Air Force Air Mobility Command.

She said the Pentagon had since decided the release of the photographs violated its rules and that no further copies would be made public.

The Pentagon's ban on photographing soldiers' coffins at US military bases dates to the first Gulf War in 1991. The US government, concerned that the ban was often ignored, re-issued it shortly before the start of the war in Iraq, and it is now strictly enforced.

The Pentagon says the ban is designed to protect families of the dead from unnecessary trauma. The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said on Thursday that President George Bush believed "we should honour and show respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, defending our freedoms."

However, some media outlets have criticised the ban, saying it prevents the public from seeing the costs of war.

The Pentagon ban does not extend to photographs of soldiers' coffins, only those arriving at military bases. Dozens of photographs of soldiers' coffins and funerals have been published in US newspapers this year.

Ms Silicio was sacked from her job with Maytag Aircraft Corporation after photographing soldiers' coffins without the permission of families, which is a violation of the Pentagon ban.

A deputy under-secretary of defence, John Molino, said on Thursday that the department was not involved in the decision to sack Ms Silicio.

The president of Maytag, William Silva, said it "fully concurs with the Pentagon's policy of respecting the remains of our brave men and women who have fallen in service to our country".

The photographic editor of the Seattle Times, Barry Fitzsimmons, said on Thursday that he was happy his newspaper had published Ms Silicio's photograph, "but it broke my heart when I find out she lost her job".

The newspaper's managing editor, David Boardman, told Editor & Publisher: "It's certainly unfortunate that she got fired but she was aware of that possibility beforehand."

The New York Times reported that a CBS News poll taken last December found that 62 per cent of Americans said the public should be allowed to see pictures of the military honour guard receiving coffins.

Unfortunately, I think the Vietnam War acted as an excellent primer for politicians to figure out how best to manipulate the media. Besides that, more media is now corporate owned, if not owned by gigantic conglomerates that include defense companies.

What the politicians who are now running the country didn't realize about Vietnam is the military lessons, and now they are repeating them perfectly.

Thank God the ban on my AR-15 is finished. I think I'm gonna be loading maximum grain .223 so I can set BZ0 tomorrow at the range.

Originally posted by bushblows
Actually wish I hadn't used Bushblows - I keep being attacked for being a "liberal" on threads. ....

To those who are giving me a hard time for having the tag Bush Blows:
do you all commute into NYC daily on a subway?

If the answer is "no" (which I assume it is) I can't take your opinions seriously.

So, just because I do not commute into NYC like you, our opinions do not count?

Many New Yorkers initially supported Mr. Bush. His using the Twin Towers
as a lure to send thousands of young Americans to their deaths *for oil* changed our minds.

And now apparently you have been elected to speak for everybody that lives in New York. '' Oil, if that was the case, we would not have given Kuwait back at the end of Gulf One. Funny how all liberals keep coming back to this point.

You are a liberal - admit it - you take every opportunity to bash any opinion that does not meet your liberal mindset.

Nice to know where your mind is. Closed, locked and in the 'anybody but bush' mode.

Originally posted by jrsdls
I come from a different perspective than most of you. I have seen two of these coffins up close and personal. I have buried two children, and I can tell you. I did not want to see them on TV or the newspapers. When we, my wife and I , were told by the Chaplain that our sons were killed, we had to deal with a lot of grief. having our sons coffins on displace in the local rag was not what we wanted. I think there has to be some honor given to the families, not every family can deal with it. Also, We did not want to see the pictures of our sons coffins being used by people with political agenda's. my sons paid the ultimate price for freedom. The Iraqi people have a chance to finally be free. I don't want some liberal Democrate using my son's coffins as a political weapon.

For one, you don't keep it a secret on this board. I also think that the public looking at the coffins actually is paying a great deal of respect to those soldiers. Public ignorant of these losses is not paying respect. Therefore, this rule is twisted.

And, how come you are against the coffins as a political agenda tool, whereas the lives themselves were wasted to promote a different political agenda, which is GWB re-election?

And, again and again, there was never a mandate to go and invade Iraq to establish freedom over there, at the cost of american lives. There was a mandate to seek out the WMD, for which there was shaky evidence at the very best. Don't you see the difference? We all have been had by the lies emanating from the White House.

I understand you need a consolation and all, and you are trying to make a sense of what has happened, but I'm afraid you are looking a wrong place.



[edit on 17-9-2004 by Aelita]

[edit on 17-9-2004 by Aelita]

Originally posted by bushblows
jrsdls - I don't believe you are legit therefore I'm ignoring your posts from this point on. Nothing personal and wish you all the best.

Nice of you to keep an open mind about the issue.

Military families, vets and many 9/11 family members do NOT approve of Bush's coffin ban. Soldiers aren't meaningless pieces of dung - they have rights and deserve to be respected.

OK, cite a source that is legit that says Military families and vets do not approve of the DOD ban. [Bush did not put it in place!]

I agree with the last part. We do have rights and deserve to be respected.
That is why WE acompany our dead to their final resting place. WE do not want to have our dead being used as a political tool, we do not want our dead to be used by Democrats or Republicans for any reason.

The decision for any photographs to be taken should be left to the family.

Many Republicans agree.

Again: cite a source to back this up.

Using your logic, I assume you would be for broadcasting things like coffins from hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Maybe after that we can extend the crass behavior to broadcasting the raw footage of accidents, murders, etc.

I look forward to your posts, but I can almost guess what the content is going to be - something out of the liberal talking points.

taibunsuu - you are right...the Vietnam War definately served as an excellent primer media-wise.

nightstalker - true, Bush didn't create the coffin ban. The title of this thread is misleading in that sense. He reinstated it, though, prior to the Iraq Disaster.

Many people who lived during the Vietnam War say the coverage was much more in your face; that the public was reminded of the carnage taking place abroad daily.

By NOT taking that approach the American public "tunes out the war" quite easily. If you think that's a good thing.....fine. I don't. For the sake of our soldiers.

Which Republican agree? Well, umm....my mommy and daddy for one.
That good enuf for ya, Bush-Boy?

No, I don't take the opinions of Armchair Commuters who support the current admin seriously. You all talk tough and support the Fake Cowboy.....but you wouldn't be caught dead in Iraq OR in a subway during rush hour after a terror alert.

Stop pretending otherwise!
















[edit on 17-9-2004 by bushblows]

[edit on 17-9-2004 by bushblows]