Apr 27, 2004 2 min read

People die in wars. More than 100 this month alone. Each one of our country’s dead soldiers must return home for burial. That is the gruesome fact of the Iraqi war. Until last week Americans were spared the sight of their flag-draped coffins arriving at Dover Air force Base.

The Bush Administration’s policy has been one that forbids media coverage – photography and videography – of the fallen soldiers return. Sensitivity and privacy of the families is cited as the administration’s overriding concern. We can only imagine how heart-wrenching it would be for families to see their loved ones’ coffins splashed in the media this way. But it certainly could be no worse than hearing that their soldiers won’t be returning home. Nor any worse than planning a funeral, fielding questions from hometown media, going through the motions of ceremony and burial. These deaths unfortunately are public.

Is this then about privacy or is it about keeping the public from viewing the stark reality? People die in wars. Had the Bush Administration allowed images from the first casualty more than a year ago, no one would even notice today. But images taken by the Defense Department of the unloading of caskets were banned until last week when First Amendment activist Russ Kick received 361 photos through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Pentagon said he shouldn’t have the photos. There won’t be any more.

The government certainly will make it even tougher for the public to realize the cost of war. The images are disturbing, because each one of those caskets represents a life cut short. People died in wars. The public needs to remember this even if the government doesn’t want it to.