Yes, They were.
That is all.
However, Villainous Company makes a very valid point:
When you decided to allow journalists to photograph the coffins of returning service members at Dover, you broke down a barrier that should have been left intact.
Since the dawn of time, human societies have had taboos. They exist for a reason. They exist because some things simply ought to be unthinkable, and nothing short of a total ban will prevent some people from pushing the envelope.
The media have contended, over and over, that the photographing of coffins and dead bodies and wounded soldiers or Marines thrashing about in agony are necessary to help the American people understand the cost of war. Evidently, the availability of graphic war movies depicting fountains of blood and oozing gore are insufficient visual aids.
The Associated Press took all of one hour to balance the newsworthiness of graphic photos of a fellow human being’s last moments against the wishes of Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard’s grieving family. In the end, compassion and human decency gave way to the profit incentive. Of course, the AP will claim they were motivated by elevated concerns that the American public, despite being exposed to violent and graphic footage on TV, cable, and at the movie theater on a daily basis, are too stupid to comprehend that explosions often result in shredded body parts, blood, agonizing pain, and death.
If that makes no sense to you, you’re not alone.
So if we buy into the notion that we need to see the results of violent episodes to truly understand their consequences, does this mean the media will now begin showing graphic footage of rape victims who have been beaten or tortured or cut to shreds by their attackers?
I tend to believe that Obama and the head of the Military are regretting their decision to allow photos of the war dead. Then again, maybe not. As we all know, liberals do hate our Military. Did not always used to be like that. There was a time when Democrats were the hawks and the Conservatives were the peace lovers. That all changed after 1964; with the rise of the “New Conservative” movement or Neo-Con as it sometimes badly called.
Somewhere, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and possibly Dick Cheney are smiling.