
This recent Washington Post story on the subject of whether or not President Obama should allow the press to publish photos of caskets of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan really struck me today.
One particular reaction from a family member of a deceased soldier concerned me most of all:
Other family members strongly disagreed [on allowing the photos to be published]; however, saying they felt media coverage would allow their lost loved ones to be politically exploited.
“This is very much Democratically driven to make it available to the public so they can publicize the negative side of the war and show the American public there is a high cost to be paid here,” said Cal Peters, whose stepson, Marine Capt. Garret Lawton, died Aug. 4 in Afghanistan. “I think this is the ultimate disrespect.”
As long as we are on the subject of respect – respectfully – I must strongly disagree with Cal Peters. The “ultimate disrespect” in my opinion, is to continue to allow the American people to believe that there is no cost to war. In addition, it is also the ultimate disrespect that we, as Americans, will not acknowledge publicly the ultimate sacrifice that these individuals made in the name of freedom.
No matter what the photographer’s political intention, these photos should be published. Let the American people decide for themselves their impact. That’s what it means to be free and that’s what these brave Americans died protecting.
I believe that if these photos were published on the front page of every American newspaper on a daily basis, these two wars would have ended a long time ago. That’s not “publicizing the negative side of war,” that’s just publishing the truth. And if it’s not, perhaps Mr. Peters could explain to other the families of all of those who have died in these two conflicts or on America’s battlefields of the past what exactly is the positive side of war.
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