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10/21/2003 Archived Entry: "The Invisible Dead."
The Invisible Dead.
Another day, another outrage. What is Bush so afraid of, if his cause is so just?
Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets.
To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases.In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "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, to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains.
[...]
President Bush's opponents say he is trying to keep the spotlight off the fatalities in Iraq. "This administration manipulates information and takes great care to manage events, and sometimes that goes too far," said Joe Lockhart, who as White House press secretary joined President Bill Clinton at several ceremonies for returning remains. "For them to sit there and make a political decision because this hurts them politically -- I'm outraged."
[...]
A White House spokesman said Bush has not attended any memorials or funerals for soldiers killed in action during his presidency as his predecessors had done, although he has met with families of fallen soldiers and has marked the loss of soldiers in Memorial Day and Sept. 11, 2001, remembrances.
[...]
President Jimmy Carter attended ceremonies for troops killed in Pakistan, Egypt and the failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. President Ronald Reagan participated in many memorable ceremonies, including a service at Camp Lejeune in 1983 for 241 Marines killed in Beirut. Among several events at military bases, he went to Andrews in 1985 to pin Purple Hearts to the caskets of marines killed in San Salvador, and, at Mayport Naval Station in Florida in 1987, he eulogized those killed aboard the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf.
During President George H.W. Bush's term, there were ceremonies at Dover and Andrews for Americans killed in Panama, Lebanon and aboard the USS Iowa.
But in early 1991, at the time of the Persian Gulf War, the Pentagon said there would be no more media coverage of coffins returning to Dover, the main arrival point; a year earlier, Bush was angered when television networks showed him giving a news briefing on a split screen with caskets arriving.
But the photos of coffins arriving at Andrews and elsewhere continued to appear through the Clinton administration. In 1996, Dover made an exception to allow filming of Clinton's visit to welcome the 33 caskets with remains from Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown's plane crash. In 1998, Clinton went to Andrews to see the coffins of Americans killed in the terrorist bombing in Nairobi. Dover also allowed public distribution of photos of the homecoming caskets after the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
The photos of coffins continued for the first two years of the current Bush administration, from Ramstein and other bases. Then, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, word came from the Pentagon that other bases were to adopt Dover's policy of making the arrival ceremonies off limits.
Unacceptable. Bush was supposed to be 'the man who hugs the bereaved families' - but he doesn't have the guts to show up at a single funeral for a single fallen soldier.
Replies: 5 people speak up
come on, you cant expect that poor hard working man to go to hundreds of funerals. hell, if he went to see every person who's death he's responsible for, he wouldnt have time to dismantle our social safety nets, school systems, and infrastructure, not to mention eroding our civil liberties. give the man a break, its hard work being a god damn pig fucking nazi. and besides, dead people are depressing, do you really want the american public to be depressed? if you report bad news you are just aiding the terrorists! do you really want to be a terrorist? cheer up everything is just fine..... shut up, smile, or else!!!!!! you hippie pinko pussy leftist commie. be a man, dont cry, kill something, god bless 'Merika!!!!!
Posted by justin @ 10/21/2003 07:34 PM NY
Image is everything. The Repubs have learned a valuable lesson: he who controls the image controls public opinion. Media consolidation has played right into their hands. The question is: are the American people wise enough to see through the image and see the reality? Judging from the success of Fox News, I'm not optimistic.
Take back the media!
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 10/21/2003 07:38 PM NY
i was stuck in the chicago DMV for 2 hours yesterday, they had tv's all over the place, and the only channel they got was fox news, the official channel of hell (which im convinced will be exactly like the chicago DMV, except with exercise equiptment) yeah, americans are stupid. i just dont understand it though, every one i know is at least moderately intelligent. i dont know where all these people live, but i wish they would stop breeding
Posted by justin @ 10/21/2003 07:47 PM NY
Justin,
I've got some bad news for you. There's an inverse relationship between intellect and fertility rates.
I suspect that one reason for the popularity of Fox is the bright, shiny, splashy graphics and the infantile sound effects and the moronic anchorpersons.
Look, I'm in the middle of root canal. Imagine that that the intellect of your average American is like a man with a horrific toothache. What's he gonna eat, an apple or apple sauce? Fox is the apple sauce of news: soft and mushy news for soft and mushy minds. We truly are an idiot nation.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 10/21/2003 10:33 PM NY
Great site! Keep up the good work! I've enjoyed your site for quite some time. I'm just one of the many in the disgruntled masses who've had enough of Bush and have decided to throw my hat into the collective ring of anti-Bush websites and hopefully do something for the betterment of America. I ask you to please join together in helping to support our new venture, "dontdobush.com," where are motto is "We don't do Bush" and our creed is "Together, we can make a difference!" If you "don't do Bush," this is the place for you. Join us in saying, "We DON'T do Bush!"
Posted by Todd @ 10/28/2003 02:30 AM NY
