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Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

Pentagon Disgraces US Troops and Manages War Coverage By Limiting Coffin Pictures
(Helen Thomas, The Boston Channel, October 29, 2003)
One of the lessons the U.S. government apparently learned from the Vietnam War is this: Don't let the American public see coffins arriving home with U.S. casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. . . . Coffin images during the Vietnam era -- along with photos and video of body bags in the field and military officials talking constantly about "body counts" -- had a tremendous impact in prompting antiwar sentiment at home. . . . In a move by the Bush administration to suppress distressing images of war, the Defense Department issued a directive last March on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq that declared: "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein (Germany) airbase or Dover (Del.) base, (and) to include interim stops." . . . Under the Pentagon clamp down, American fatalities will be reduced to statistics and the public will see little of the human side of the war. . . . President Bush has not attended any memorials or funerals for the Iraqi war dead . . . I can understand why the White House and the Pentagon want to shut down coffin coverage on the nightly news. . . . The photos would be disturbing to anyone and -- if the war goes on much longer -- politically damaging to the president. But the families of the fallen Americans should not have to grieve alone. We can only share by knowing.

posted by LoZo 6:36 AM