Dep. Under Secretary of War John Molino "denied the suggestion that restricting access to the photographs was an attempt at damage limitation by the Bush administration, which is under pressure over its policy of invading and occupying Iraq.

"'I don't see that as our motivation. To be very frank with you, we don't want the remains of our service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice to be the subject of any kind of attention that is unwarranted or undignified,' said Mr Molino."

Unwarranted? Documentation of the shipment of coffins that contain soldiers' remains is not unwarranted. Such an event is the inevitable and unfortunate result of warmaking. Someone died. His or her body was put into a box. This is what happens when humans are sent to fight and kill each other.

To prohibit documentation or publication of these events is to deny that there is a negative aspect to this kind of action. The line about "deferring to the bereaved" is a screen. Who will see photos like these and not empathize with or acknowledge the loss that some family will have to endure? That's being human. I think that it is because our humanity, our emotions and our contemplative selves are stirred by this evidence that the government wants to control it. Human concerns and compassion have a tendency not to square with policy. And when policy leads to an invasion that Paul Wolfowitz himself said "was probably illegal," then it becomes all the more important to hide its negative consequences.

When confronted by the evidence of death, people are reminded of their life. They are reminded that they feel and yearn, that they hope and hurt and fear and love... and they are reminded of how all of that is lost to the dead. Perhaps people will wonder if the person in the box was someone they knew. They might wonder if someone they know will end up in such a box.

Confronted by the evidence of death, people are reminded of their life and the fact that they have voices. Perhaps people will ask when the coffins will stop being shipped, when "victory" will be won. They might not so fervently wave those 99-cent flags if they continue to see flag-draped coffins flown home from countries whose inhabitants don't want to be beholden to our mandates and military force.

Of course, many people will see photos like these and harden their resolve. Their commitment to the cause and to the government will strengthen. They will want the soldiers who have died not to be forsaken, forgotten, or to have died in vain. It's relative. Each individual will see things differently.

However, I think that to deny individuals the opportunity to reflect on these events, to see and read about the effects of this war, is to corrupt the idea of democracy for which these soldiers supposedly died.



And in regard to dignity... no one making decisions in this matter
has the right to speak of it, when 10 Iraqis die for each American,
and so many have been civilians.

But then, how often do you see evidence of that?



Just to add a little background: The ban on showing the arrival of soldiers' coffins began in '91 after a live, split-screen broadcast in '89 that showed George I "acting the fool as the bodies of the men he had sent to war (in Panama) were borne from a military transport."