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Commentary ~ April 23, 2004: The Bush Administration has
forbidden the filming or photographing of the hundreds of American
bodies being flown back from Iraq. Tami Silicio, a contractor working
in Kuwait, discovered the hard way that this censorship includes
the photographing of bodies being loaded onto planes at the other
end. She was fired for sending a photo back to The Seattle Times.
And, as part of the Pentagon's medieval methods of extending punishment
to kith and kin, Tami's husband was also fired for good measure.
In an extraordinary violation of the First Amendment, Bush has
forbidden journalists from taking pictures at Dover Air Force Base
in Delaware, the first stop for the bodies of troops being sent
home. He knew that these images in part contributed to the rising
anger against the Vietnam war. He doesn't want to see a repeat of
democracy undermining his profitable war in Iraq.
However, under pressure from American citizens who remember they
have a constitution that protects them, the U.S. Air Force yesterday
released more than 300 of its own photographs of dead Americans.
The move was in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The images were released to a website based in Tucson, Arizona (http://www.thememoryhole.org).
After the photos were posted on the memoryhole.org, the Pentagon
barred further release of the images to media outlets. Pentagon
spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Keck told the Associated Press that the
release of the photos appears to be in conflict with policy.
The Pentagon claims it does not want to show the photos because
"Quite frankly, 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," John Molino,
a deputy undersecretary of defense, told AP.
Others, however, see the censorship as political, and say that
there is nothing "undignified" about a coffin wrapped
in an American flag.
Since the start of the war in March 2003, more than 700 US troops
have died in Iraq, with more than 100 killed this month alone.
"We need to stop hiding the deaths of our young," Jane
Bright of California, who lost a son in combat last year, told the
BBC. "We need to be open about their deaths."
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Tami Silicio, a Seattle-area resident working
on contract at the US military section of Kuwait International
Airport, was fired for forwarding this photo to her local newspaper.
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On 29 March 2004, this photo was
on the web page for the Dover Air Force Base's mortuary. However,
it was immediately pulled and is now only available at The
Memory Hole website. |
Links:
Chronology (from The Guardian Newspaper)
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