[Marxism] Photos of coffins break through censorship

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(In addition to this, the photographer
who shot these images has been fired,
and so has her husband, by the company
where the photos were taken.)
==========================================

GRANMA INTERNATIONAL
Havana. April, 22 2004

Photos of coffins break through
censorship established by Bush

THE censorship established by the White House on photos of
the coffins of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq has been
broken. Last Sunday, The Seattle Times newspaper rebelled
against the Bush administration ban and published an
article titled The somber labor of honoring the fallen,
which began by describing the image of a pile of aluminum
boxes draped in U.S. flags.

US casualties in Iraq already total more than 700.

The coffins of US troops killed in Iraq arrive at the Dover
Air Base.

US soldiers drape the coffins with the US flag.

Last Monday, the popular news web site, Drudge Report, had
as a front page headline, The media has corpses, over a
photo of 18 coffins.

Footage of the inside of a cargo plane carrying coffins can
be found on http://www.thememoryhole.org, where it is
explained that a number of images are circulating on web
sites and e-mail, sidestepping the U.S. military's
position. It also recommends sending on similar images.

Ever since the war on Viet Nam, according to
thememoryhole.org, U.S. leaders have been concerned that
their military actions would lose support once the body
bags began to appear.

A brief article titled, Military coffins, the photos that
aren't supposed to be seen, on the same web site, says that
the Bush administration has found a simple solution,
prohibiting the public diffusion of such images on all the
military bases.

According to The Washington Post, the policy dates from the
year 2000, during the administration of Bill Clinton.

In March 2003, shortly before the war on Iraq, the Pentagon
banned funeral ceremonies on military bases, as well as the
presence of the media during the transfer of bodies from
Ramstein, Germany to Dover, Delaware, in the U.S. During
the height of the war, the measure was reinforced.

Some of the footage on the Internet dates from March 29,
2004, and was filmed from the Dover military base.

Up until this past Tuesday, the U.S. forces have suffered
100 casualties this month, making it the deadliest since
the start of the war; at the same time, George W. Bush's
military decisions were being questioned by security
officials.

Source: El Universal (Mexico)



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