The Air Force says the media were allowed to cover the arrival Sunday of an airman killed overseas, the first such opportunity since the Obama administration overturned an 18-year-old ban on news coverage of returning war dead.
The new policy announced in February gives families a choice of whether to admit the news media to ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the entry point to the United States for the caskets of overseas war dead. Critics of the previous policy had said the government was trying to hide the human cost of war.
What do you think? Are we honoring the fallen soldiers or creating a media circus for political gain? I have an answer. Would love to hear yours.
Can anyone say, "Put your finger to the wind and see which way it is blowing?" I have no thoughts on the right or wrong of this but I do reject the idea put out by the critics. Some prefer privacy for their grief.
ReplyDeleteTo me it's about the motivation. It's quite possible that the previous policy was really to allow for private grieving. But the media almost always assumes the worst. The natural "human" interpretation of discovering that someone doesn't want to show something, is to assume that they're trying to hide something.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it's honoring the fallen, who have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms of others. But if the media were to "parade" the issue for any other agenda, that would be a serious tragedy, on the same level the returning veterans from Viet Nam recieved.
Have you seen any of these stickers on cars in your area?
Will, haven't seen that one but as a child and grandchild of military men, I like it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the change in policy, if the Obama administration honors family's requests without making it cumbersome to deny media access, it will probably all fall away. I do know if it was my family, there would be no media. It's a private time and no one outside the family and invited guests need to see it. I sure as heck wouldn't want that moment to become a front-page picture on a website or newspaper somewhere.