Quote: WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS, CNN, AP RUN PHOTOS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COFFINS -- AS IRAQ WAR DEAD! ... AFTER INTERNET MIX-UP: Russ Kick of thememoryhole.org filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting 'all photographs showing caskets (or other devices) containing the remains of US military personnel at Dover AFB. This would include, but not be limited to, caskets arriving, caskets departing, and any funerary rites/rituals being performed. The timeframe for these photos is from 01 February 2003 to the present.' But Kick appears to have assumed all the photos given to him were of the WAR ON TERROR/IRAQ dead! On Thursday NASA claimed more than 70 photos featured in Kick's war dead -- were photos of Space Shuttle Columbia's crew! The shuttle blew up on 2/1/03. 'An initial review of the images featured on the Internet site <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thememoryhole.org">http://www.thememoryhole.org</a><!-- w --> shows that more than 18 rows of images from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware are actually photographs of honors rendered to Columbia's seven astronauts,' NASA said. CNN aired space shuttle coffins as Iraq dead from thememoryhole.org. The Washington Post printed a shuttle dead photo on page A10. [The paper is planning a correction on Saturday, sources tell DRUDGE.] Reuters is also distributing a photo of the Columbia crew remains. AP has a screen grab of the first page of photos - all of which are of Columbia crew remains. AP titles the image as 'A page from the Memory Hole.org's homepage shows photographs of American war dead arriving at Dover Air Force, the nation's largest military mortuary,Thursday, April 22, 2004'... It is not clear if other media outlets are currently featuring space shuttle coffins in their rotations... Developing...

Quote:Nice way of saying the dead miltary troop is nothing but a statistic.

Quote:DOVER, Del. (April 23) - President Bush considers the release of photographs of flag-draped military coffins a reminder of the fallen troops' sacrifice, but believes family privacy should be respected, the White House said Friday.

Pentagon officials said the photos, issued last week and posted on an Internet site, should not have been made public under a policy prohibiting media coverage of human remains. Some activists argue that the photos, released last week, underscore the war's human cost.





"America knows full well that our men and women are serving and serving brilliantly both in Iraq and around the world... America is aware this is a war against terrorism,'' Bush spokesman Trent Duffy said. But, he said, "The message is, the sensitivity and privacy of families of the fallen must be the first priority.''

The photographs were released to First Amendment activist Russ Kick, who had filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

Kick posted dozens of photographs of American war dead arriving at the nation's largest military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, prompting the Pentagon on Thursday to bar further release of the photographs to media outlets.





Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Keck said release of the 361 photos appeared to be in conflict with policy.

"They're not happy with the release of the photos,'' said Col. Jon Anderson, a spokesman for the Dover base.

Duffy said he did not know whether Bush had personally weighed in on the Pentagon's move to overturn the base's decision, or whether Bush considered the released photos an affront to the families.

The photos were taken at the Dover base, and most were of flag-draped cases used by the military to transport remains. But Anderson said Friday that the photos also included images of the remains of the shuttle Columbia astronauts arriving at Dover, as well as casualties from Afghanistan. A NASA spokesman said that at least 18 rows of photos on the site were of the Columbia astronauts.

According to his Web site, Kick, who has not returned phone calls or e-mails from The Associated Press, requested all Dover photos from Feb. 1, 2003, to the present. "He wasn't distinguishing between what he wanted,'' Anderson said. "He just wanted everything.''

At least one of the Columbia photos, a Feb. 5 shot of a flag-draped coffin, was included in a picture of the Web site distributed by the AP.

At a rally in Dover last month, war protesters criticized Bush for continuing the practice of previous administrations of not allowing the public or media to witness the arrival of remains at the base.


For the Policy Against the Policy

"We must pay attention to the privacy and to the sensitivity of the families of the fallen... that's what the policy is based on..."

-- Trent Duffy,
White House spokesman


Source: Reuters

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"We need to stop hiding the deaths of our young; we need to be open about their deaths.''


-- Jane Bright,
mother of soldier killed in action


Source: AP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




"We need to stop hiding the deaths of our young; we need to be open about their deaths,'' said Jane Bright of West Hills, Calif., whose 24-year-old son, Evan Ashcraft, was killed in combat in July.

On NBC's "Today'' on Friday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina agreed with the policy banning photos from Dover because "there's no ceremony held; it's a caretaking event.''

But Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, said photos of caskets coming home from Vietnam had a tremendous impact on the way Americans came to view that war.

"As people began to see the reality of it and see the 55,000 people who were killed coming back in body bags, they became more and more upset by the war,'' he said. "This is not about privacy. This is about trying to keep the country from facing the reality of war.''

The Pentagon move came a day after a military contractor fired a cargo worker because her photograph of flag-draped remains was published on the front page of Sunday editions of The Seattle Times.

Quote:An initial review of the images featured on the Internet site <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thememoryhole.org">http://www.thememoryhole.org</a><!-- w --> shows that more than 18 rows of images from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware are actually photographs of honors rendered to Columbia's seven astronauts