The Bush administration placed a media ban on the returning remains of soldiers from Iraq back in 1991, masking the process from the public. That meant the remains of over 5,000 American soldiers returned to families without a single picture being allowed into the press. That such a ban held for so long terrifies me, but the Obama administration overturned it, with April 5th marking the first time press coverage was allowed. The family has to consent, which makes sense to me, but the government should never be able to block access to these scenes again. Numbers and names only tell us so much, and once again The Big Pictures proves the power of photos with Documenting the return of U.S. war dead.
the commentary on that link is really interesting. this country really is divided about half-and-half on just about everything.