Americans have been sheltered from visual images of the worst encountered by our young adults serving in the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bush White House prohibited photographs of our returning dead. To what end? That these images would be demoralizing and undercut public support for war? Now, suddenly and shockingly, we have a photograph of a young dying American who stands for so many thousands of fallen and wounded soldiers; surely to become an iconic image of war. While respecting the Bernard family's objections to the A.P. photograph showing their dying son in combat, publishing the photograph by Julie Jacobson serves a national purpose: it captures the nature of sacrifice, war, and death better than a thousand words. (The New York Times "Lens Blog" discusses the controversy.)
"During the firefight, Jacobson had wrestled with a question every war photographer faces: whether to offer to help save a life, or keep out of the way of the professionals and go on shooting pictures. Some of Bernard's comrades asked to see the photos. In her journal she described them flipping through the images she had captured that day: "They did stop when they came to that moment. But none of them complained or grew angry about it. They understood that it was what it was. They understand, despite that he was their friend, it was the reality of things." It had all gone very quickly. It was late afternoon when the Taliban fired their first RPGs. It was dusk when the Marine was driven away in the armored vehicle. And it was night when the patrol returning to base saw the dark silhouette of the helicopter that flew him away. Lance Cpl. Joshua "Bernie" Bernard was 21 years old."
Today, there are more private contractors in Afghanistan working for the Pentagon and government agencies than soldiers, paid far more than soldiers in an amazing proof that corporations are more representative of the interests of US citizens than the US military. There may be excellent reasons to be fighting our wars. These reasons ought to be better than those that committed America to war in Vietnam, or, the 40 years American policies allowed our nation to become addicted to foreign sources of oil. No one should be insulated from the costs of war, including what happens when our troops and mercenaries come home to a jobless economic recovery. Message to government: "Just give us the truth".
16 comments:
That photo is hard to ignore...but I am trying.
Gim,
I am saddened that you would feel the need to sensationalize this young man's death by posting the photo.
His family has requested that the photo not be published and yet the photo is being used to illustrate an anti-war reality that is incredibly painful to his family, friends and those of us who are anti-war. You are making all of a victim of this tragedy and definitely increasing the pain and suffering of the young man's loved ones.
It is a shame that you felt a need to exploit the family. I will not read your post, because I refuse to be used as tool to inflict further pain on this family and those of families like his.
It is not respectful and I am disappointed in your journalistic sensibilities.
My heart goes out to this family and any family who has lost a loved one in the service of our nation or our community.
Videos of soldiers being blown up are all over the internet. They should be watched by every American. War is terrible. Even worse when soldiers die for nothing.
Start putting pictures up of crime scene victims, maybe this shortsighted logic will make more people anti-crime.
Let's start with the physical damages caused by the bridge dwelling pedophiles and four year old victims.
NOT A GOOD POST, FOR A MAN AS SKILLED AS YOU.
I have been yelling for years. Bring them home. I was in WW@ and know how terrible it is to lose many of our young men. At least that was one we had to be in. There is no reason why our boys are being killed now except for oil and money. Stop it. End our losses now. Mensa
for the squeamish, if you cant stand the picture, get out of the war.
wish i had a photo of when my father was murdered in cuba.
I wonder if the people who oppose the posting of this photo are going to keep their kids home when Obama speaks.
No, I will not keep my kids home from school because I don't think Obama is dumb enough to politicize his speech, but I will do my damnest to keep them out of a war.
I remember the 70's. And I remember the pain.
I don't think the photo should have been published here or anywhere, for that matter. It doesn't do anything besides create talk about photos, and it doesn't heal the soldiers family's heart.
Publishing it does terrorize the children of American soldiers who will relate that photo to the fact that is where their parent is currently living. Tonight there will loved ones of soldiers even more traumatized by the war. Is it worth frightening our soldiers children's and loved ones for the sake of journalistic voyeurism?
I think it is cruel and endangers the morale of our soldiers.
The photo may be treated for a cause for celebration in some countries and may cause a soldier to hesitate when facing danger which would be another tragedy in the making.
Don't you remember Vietnam and our treatment of the soldiers? Maybe some older people forget the lack of support for our troops; something that still causes pain for many of them today. And I suppose that our teens and college students never learned how awful we treated our military then, since civics has disappeared and history is sanitized in schools these days.
youbetha,
If you want to bring Vietnam into it, the images and videos of that war sparked a generation of activists who marched in protest against the war.
This generation hasn't done a damn thing because they have been sheltered from the war.
Carlos,
Those protests helped cause the feeling of uselessness our soldiers felt during the war.
Those protestors spit on the soldiers in airports when they came home. No one gave a damn about how they felt. They did not get a heros welcome. Part of that was caused by the media.
I still will stick by the fact those photos are harmful to children and loved ones of the soldiers, both then and now. We have a military base in this county and I don't exactly see a bunch of citizens running around asking how they can help the families of the soldiers deployed. There is a handful of people who try to help and that is it.
There is a family (Thinking of You Services) collecting signed cards as well as money to buy items to send to troops.They have to beg for help and money. No matter how we feel about the war, we have to support our soldiers and protect their families who are left here in our community.
I believe we've learned from Vietnam where we are able to separate the soldiers from the institution that sent them there.
The reason you don't see families running around to help them is because they are unaware that there is a war going on because there has been so much censorship of the media.
Think about it. If it wasn't for this photo, we would not even be discussing the war.
I don't discuss the war, this war or any war. I have seen the collateral damage and it is not acceptable.
I try to impact the soldiers families in a good way. People In Miami Dade should be supportive of the military families out at the base whether the base is deployed or not. It doesn't take a whole lot of your time to look up the base commanders office and ask how someone can help the families. You are not supporting the war, you are supporting your neighbors who are facing overwhelming responsibilities.
When you use the word "SHOULD" you SHOULD examine what you are saying...
I know what I am saying. That military base may as well be in Ohio for the recognition it gets in Miami Dade County. The people in this county do not embrace HARB like other areas do their bases. Pensacola and Jacksonville are very cognizant of being base towns.
That is why HARB is always in danger of closing. It looks as if the community does not support base operations. There was more concern raised over the Marlin stadium deal than the impact of closing a military base that provides protection to the US and economic benefits to us locally.
It is sad.
We have a military base?
No, Genius. My bad.
It is not a military base, it is a land bank for the Latin Builders Association. :(
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