The Associated Press Has Gone To Far

[lizbud]

I agree with Gates. This is so, so wrong.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26759.html

[blue]

Way too far.

[Karen]

How sad. That they are putting profits above simple human decency is not surprising, but it is sad that they didn't consider his parents' feelings. There have always been branches of the media that aim to profit from human suffering, the saying "If it bleeds, it leads" goes back before I was even born.

[blue]

Think of all the protestors that dont take the families feelings into consideration when they use the deaths of soldiers to further their goals. Cindy Sheehan, if she had stuck to her own son Ild have no problem. Michael Moore has capitalised on the deaths of soldiers, IMHO, in a way worse way then the AP did.

[RICHARD]

Devil's advocate?


Didn't we want to see coffins?


Why not move the timeline a little farther backwards and get the FULL STORY?


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I am being a smart arse here.

People asked for pictures of the coffins unloaded at Dover to be published by the media.

So all of a sudden we get effing 'religion' and don't want to see how the coffins are filled.

Aluminum caskets are way more palatable than the pics of a real person dying?

Remember the media paraded the clips of the woman killed after the Iranian elections?

It's quite all right for us to make martyrs of people we don't know, but a sin when it's our own blood?

I don't understand.

[RICHARD]

There are two ways to look at the clip-I have not seen it.

One is a way to rally the GOVERNMENT and to give the military the ways and means to end all the BS.

We bomb a town?

TFB. We drop pamphlets before hand and tell the people WE ARE THERE TO GET RID OF THE SLOBS THAT ARE MAKING YOUR LIVES MISERABLE. Help us, we'll help you.

Or?

Let's let this poor soldier's death be the rally cry for us to tuck tail and split.
End of story, let the locals take care of their own.


Then we can wait for the next 9/11

We just have to kick a little arse to show everyone that we don't care and will not take prisoners.

How many other countries run roughshod over the people that they get involved with?

We get the short end of the stick because we follow the rules.

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Hey! who remembers the pilots/crew of the Blackhawks shot down in Somalia that were stripped and dragged down the road and the private contractors that were killed and strung up on he bridge? I seem to remember there wasn't too much ado done for them.

I still do not understand.

[Medusa]

“conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.” As if we need a reminder.

There were live reports from the battle fields of Viet Nam. We got to see wounded and dying soldiers then. We already know how grim war is. So this is just an excuse by the AP and a total lack of compassion for the soldier's family. That photo will be forever etched in their minds; not a way that I'd want to remember my son, hero or not. The action of the AP is unconscionable.

[moosmom]

they are putting profits above simple human decency

WELL SAID!!!!!!

AP should be ashamed of themselves!!

[RICHARD]

Rejoice! Glory is ours!
Our young men have not died in vain.
Their graves need no flowers
The tapes have recorded their names.
-elp

[lizbud]

I discovered there were more than one picture, but a package of
pictures and a story of all the soldiers in this encounter with the enemy.

Here's part of the story,

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1004009395

[Alysser]

There's a point to where I want to hear about what's going on in the war, but I have never, ever looked at pictures of the war, unless they were already infront of me before I knew it. That article thoroughly disgusts me...ugh.

Having seen a death (of an animal not a human but still) to someone I was close to, and witnessing it. It's such a personal thing, it's not something that should be put on display for the public to see, honestly. I feel so bad for his father. May this soldier, rest in peace.

[pomtzu]

Living only about 15 miles from Dover AFB, there is usually not a day goes by that I don't see a transport flying over, carrying these soldiers on their journey back to the states. Just seeing the planes is enough for me - I know what the cargo is - and I certainly would not want to see a video of the journey from beginning to end.

[RICHARD]

So, we must revoke the media's option to 'publish' photos of the war?

All the protest groups wanted the pictures of the coffins coming off the transports, but we dig a little deeper and everyone freaks out?

So, we let this poor guy die on video, then turn out heads in disgust.

Not a good way to honor OUR own.

I think the word is 'transperancy' we are offered the ideal by the new regime, why not take it and use it for something constructive?

Nope, instead we wuss out again and bury this poor kid's sacrifice because death, especially one as fricking horrific as that, makes us uncomfortable and fidget in our seats.

People talk about losing our "taste for war"-

We can either have it 'served' occasionally and be reminded of the aftertaste that lingers in our head, or have it served every day and get used to it on our plates.

[Grace]

So, we must revoke the media's option to 'publish' photos of the war?

All the protest groups wanted the pictures of the coffins coming off the transports, but we dig a little deeper and everyone freaks out?

So, we let this poor guy die on video, then turn out heads in disgust.

Not a good way to honor OUR own.

I think the word is 'transperancy' we are offered the ideal by the new regime, why not take it and use it for something constructive?

Nope, instead we wuss out again and bury this poor kid's sacrifice because death, especially one as fricking horrific as that, makes us uncomfortable and fidget in our seats.

People talk about losing our "taste for war"-

We can either have it 'served' occasionally and be reminded of the aftertaste that lingers in our head, or have it served every day and get used to it on our plates.

Very well said, Richard.

Bob Herbert wrote an opinion piece for the NY Times a few weeks ago. I wish I could express myself the way he does. For anyone interested, here is the link.

Speaking of Iraq and Afghanistan, he says this -

Most Americans have conveniently put these two absurd, obscene conflicts out of their minds. There’s an economy to worry about and snappy little messages to tweet. Nobody wants to think about young people getting their faces or their limbs blown off. Or the parents, loaded with antidepressants, giving their children and spouses a final hug before heading off in a haze of anxiety to their third or fourth tour in the war zones.

[pomtzu]

IMO - there's a big difference between seeing a flag draped coffin, and watching a video of how that person inside ended up there. One's death is a very private and personal matter, or at least it should be.

VietNam was overkill. It was shoved down our throats day after day by every broadcast station. You couldn't watch a newscast without seeing the death and destruction every day - and for how many years??? Wasn't that enough???

It's simply disrespectful to his family members to have the world able to view their loved one's horrific death. I'm certain that those images will be burned in their memory forever, and they will have to live with those images for a lifetime, rather than more serene and pleasant memories. Even the coffin as a last memory is by far, more preferable then what they have been left with.