Photos of Soldiers Spark a Debate Over Access

President Bush has come out saying that he feels that certain photographs should not be released to the media even if such photographs poses no security threats. The photographs of the coffins of soldiers from Iraq were made public. The Pentagon has come out to say that the release of these pictures was wrong. The reporter of the article fails to say how the media was able to obtain these pictures but does allude to the fact that the President is opposed to releasing these pictures because it may result in Americans losing their support for the war (Shanker & Carter, 2004).

Tens of thousands of photos like this have been released to the public in the past through combat photographers and it is assumed that such photographers took the pictures of the coffins. Such pictures are normally released to show the work of the armed forces and to make the Pentagon's case to the public. Some pictures reveal how the U.S. secretly wages war and access to such pictures is limited to those who have obtained security clearance (Shanker & Carter, 2004).

Americans deserve to know the truth of this war and the Pentagon should stop trying to censor pictures to the American public unless such pictures would threaten our national security. Bush argues that he wants to respect the privacy of the families of the deceased soldiers but I think that these families would want the truth to be known. Our media has proven to be the watchdog of the American public and we see that now, as it becomes known that U.S. soldiers were abusing Iraqi prisoners in Iraqi prisons.

The U.S. Military argues that the pictures shown on CBS's 60 Minutes II were part of a criminal investigation. When the military found out CBS would show the pictures they tried to talk the network out of doing so for fear that it could cause even more anger in Iraq and upset current negotiations in Fallujah and Najaf. The network delayed showing the pictures for a month. President Bush has taken responsibility for this abuse and has publicly apologized (Graham & Von Drehle, 2004).

The Red Cross claims that the administration knew for months about the abuse and did nothing. Representatives from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights First went to L. Paul Bremer III, head of the occupation authority in Iraq and even Condolezza Rice, the national security advisor but their complaints resulted in no investigative action taken. Many senior advisors on the Bush administration say they were unaware of the mistreatment of soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison until seeing pictures on CBS (Lewis & Lightblau, 2004).

The failure of the Bush administration to properly investigate and work with human rights organizations forced Bush to make an apology and say that such actions are not representative of the United States. "Such practices do not reflect our values. They are a stain on our country's honor and reputation…We will learn all the facts and determine the full extent of these abuses…All prison operators in Iraq will be thoroughly reviewed to make certain that similar disgraceful incidents are never repeated." (President's Radio Address, 1, 2004)

I think that the apology is too little too late. The American people will not trust the Bush administration until they see proof that the administration will crack down on abuse of prisoners by the U.S. military. It is obvious that such abuse of prisoners occurred in other wars but it's possible that it did not receive such media attention because the media's presence in the world is always growing and abuse in past battles may not have risen to the levels it has in Iraq.