Sponsored Content
« Slow Joe Biden Doesn't Know The Difference Between Losing Jobs And Gaining Them | Main | We All Have To Die Someday, This Seems A Pretty Good Way To Do It »
February 26, 2009

Ugh...Obama Administration To Allow Press At Dover AFB When Fallen Heroes Return Home

As I blogged about last weekend, several milbloggers made what I thought was a good case as to why these military ceremonies should remain private. Alas after a review, Secretary of Defense Gates has modified the ban on media access to Dover.

Families of America's war dead will decide whether the flag-draped caskets of their loved ones can be photographed by news organizations when the fallen return to U.S. soil, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

Gates said he decided to permit the photos at Dover Air Force Base, Del., if the families agree. A working group will come up with details and logistics.

The new policy reverses a ban put in place in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. Some critics contended the government was trying to hide the human cost of war.

"We should not presume to make the decision for the families — we should actually let them make it," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.

He cited a difference of opinion inside the Pentagon about whether to change the policy, based on concerns about what would be in the grieving families' best interests. He said he was "never comfortable" with the ban.

I'm glad it's not a total reversal of the policy but I'm still moved by the millblogers argument that this is a private military matter. It also doesn't seem fair to lay this on families in the middle of the worst imaginable times. The DoD better make damn sure this policy doesn't result in the press (including bloggers) hounding families for access.

MORE: TSO at This Ain't Hell has some background on one of the women behind this policy review. He also brings up a good point about how parents and other family members may not share the same outlook on the war that the fallen hero had and he speaks with some degree of personal experience.


digg this
posted by DrewM. at 03:33 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Theodore: "Also a first for me! ..."

mindful webworker in an alternate universe: "🌌 A B C? Do Re Mi! 1 2 3 & Thursday O ..."

Theodore: "free ONT! ..."

Martini Farmer: "Pence is going to be the GOP candidate in 24. Bet ..."

CharlieBrown'sDildo: "[i]Posted by: Some Things Will Never Change at Mar ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "Are you doing plywood like T1-11 or are you doing ..."

Kindltot: "[i] My siding job is going well. Could possibly fi ..."

FenelonSpoke: " Some Things Will Never Change But their handl ..."

Kindltot: "I want a corndog ..."

Alberta Oil Peon: "My siding job is going well. Could possibly finish ..."

Some Things Will Never Change: "[i]Pence was the pro-government / pro-GOPe version ..."

Bacon Jeff: "You say Horn Dog, I hear Horndog https://youtu. ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64