Military to Avoid Embarrassing Pictures by Banning Photography

Military to Avoid Embarrassing Pictures by Banning Photography

news.antiwar.com

Photos 'Only for Official Purposes,' General Warns

It sounds like the punchline of a bad joke, but after years of dealing with photographs of troops torturing prisoners, desecrating corpses and generally behaving badly, commanders in southwestern Afghanistan have announced that they are going to solve the problem by banning photography.
The command, which covers some 36,000 troops including 15,800 US Marines, announced that troops will only be allowed to take photographs for “official purposes,” and will no longer be taking “happy snaps,” apparently the official name for pictures

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Wow.. This is bad!

The only way that most of the horrible torture and disrespect that happened in Iraq, afghanistan etc.. is from the pictures that troops take!

What if a soldier wants to photograph other things to whistleblow on something and now they are not allowed to?! Only official pictures!

Thoughts?!

news.antiwar.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by Nspekta

Military to Avoid Embarrassing Pictures by Banning Photography

news.antiwar.com

Sensationalist outrage headline doesnt actually seem to be true.

antiwar cite marinecorpstimes as their source (as should have the OP if they wanted to get closer to the truth of the story), but the marinecorpstimes article doesnt speak of an outright ban at all.

The truth appears that the new order *requests* in stronger terms that troops think more carefully about what they're doing.

The general’s instructions reinforce that taking ill-advised photographs can undermine the war effort,
...
Like the CENTCOM order, neither Army order explicitly restricts recreational photos taken outside the wire.

But as they say, never let the truth get in the way of sensationalist outrage.

why ban pissing on dead people when you can ban cameras.

that's the twisted logic evil people use.

the military has some #ed up people in it. i have a friend in the army whose always bragging about how they kill civilians on accident all the time. how they'll shoot a missle, miss the building they're aiming for and hit a house. im like damn yall suck, and he's like "yeah but it's unavoidable" LOL man man man maybe the anunnaki coming to slay us all doesn't sound so bad afterall

This is why embeded journalism was invented. In order to get permission to tag along with the troops you have to sign a contract that requires that the military gets to sensor your footage. This is just the next step toward 1984. Afghanistan already shows that just like 1984 the people really have no idea if we are winning the war or not or if there really is an enemy anymore.

reply to post by alfa1

The general’s instructions reinforce that taking ill-advised photographs can undermine the war effort,
...
Like the CENTCOM order, neither Army order explicitly restricts recreational photos taken outside the wire.

"recreational" means they are off duty and "photos taken outside the wire" means they are off the military base.

There is no need to ban those types of photos. It appears YOU are the one trying to mislead people.

In fact, I've noticed you do that quite often here.

Originally posted by IpsissimusMagus
There is no need to ban those types of photos. It appears YOU are the one trying to mislead people.

Need or not, orders can be made (or not) regardless.

All we have so far is the second hand reporting from marinecorpstimes, which was then created into third hand reporting from antiwar.com, which was then fourth handedly posted here on ATS.

To really clear up the matter, I'd love it if you could provide the actual text of the order. I searched, but could not find. But at this point it seems I was the only one who bothered to even try. Everyone else just hanging off the headline.

It appears this also a NATO order.

Here is an old US order from 2006 - US Central Command General Order 1B

The General quoted this order in his comments

Item f - restricts photography

militaryatheists.org...


Link

NATO forces in southwestern Afghanistan will implement a total ban on soldiers’ taking personal photos during military operations. This comes in the wake of major scandals involving US servicemen being pictured with dead Taliban fighters. The ISAF command in Helmand province announced only official photos will be allowed to be taken. The restriction is going to affect 36,000 troops, including 15,800 US Marines.

The troops that have committed the embarrassing actions were wrong for what they did. But they were made to be the scapegoats IMO. They are taught to behave this way towards the enemy. It's just been kept a secret.

I think it's clear from the events of the past. Which led up to this order being issued. That the commanding officers were not reprimanded enough IMO and did not take the proper responsibility for the actions of their soldiers.

During war times soldiers MUST have a certain mentality to be able to carry out there orders. They are not really the ones to blame. It is usually the responsibility of the of the commanding officers to ensure that the troops behave in an appropriate manner.

I would guess that in the past the type of events were considered moral boosters. They probably encouraged this type of behavior or at the very least they turned a blind eye to it and swept it under the rug.

Now, instead of implementing new policies of correct behavior and including more psychological training and evaluations to prevent these types of occurrences. They are taking the position that "it's only a crime if they caught." So let's reduce they ability for these incidences to be reported. Instead of trying to stop it in the first place.

I don't see this as the correct solution. War is hell and it changes people. Soldiers in the field must view the enemy as less than human. They must disregard any respect for human life to carry out their orders. These types of events will continue to occur. They just won't be reported as much now.

www.rt.com...

Gen. Gurganus called souvenir photographs “happy snaps,” as cited by marinescorpstimes.com, stressing they should only be taken within bases and never during combat missions.

The ISAF command in Helmund province has warned servicemen of the new policy, Gen. Gurganus said.
He explained soldiers should realize that making cool memorable pictures with dead Taliban fighters is a bad idea and there will be consequences.

“This isn’t rocket science,” he noted.

The ISAF Central Command general order is clear about what is restricted from being filmed and photographed. For example, it is strictly forbidden to take photos of NATO aircraft at Bagram Air Force Base. Handmade explosive devices should stay off camera – as well as the destruction and casualties they cause.

While there is no direct US Army order explicitly forbidding recreational photos from being taken outside military bases, the US military has always prohibited photographing and filming of war prisoners and casualties.
US Central Command General Order 1B outlines the ethical requirements for deployed service members. Commanders in Helmand have taken it a step further to underscore the need to make smart choices, Gurganus said.

I understand that this order is necessary. But this is not a solution to the problem that causes these types of troop behavior. It does appear that new policies are going to be taught along with the ban. But the fact that these things happened so often is proof that the orders that were already in place were not being followed. Now it will just be easier to hide these events. Instead of preventing them from happening in the first place.

www.rt.com...

He further condemned the widespread practice of illegally using helmet-mounted cameras in combat and posting first-person video on the web.

“It is amazing what ends up on YouTube and flying through email and onto the Internet,” Bradney told journalists.
The US command has specific reason to be concerned over videos being leaked. Film portraying US servicemen in combat could be used by the Taliban as a propaganda tool against allied forces. The Taliban can also learn tactics being used by of western forces on such recordings.

The US Defense Ministry has been forced to apologize when American servicemen posed with the body parts of Afghan suicide bombers or urinated on dead Taliban militants. But whether the ISAF is looking to fix systemic problems of misconduct or merely sweep them under the rug with the latest ban remains to be seen.[/ex