Why would Bush's administration exercise a strict censorship over images of American flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq? And why President Bush has never attended the funeral of any soldier?
by 
daiko
ANSWERS: 6
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Because Mama Bush doesn't want to "bother her pretty mind" with these images, and in the hope that they could somehow hide the grim reality of the war from the American people.
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Because the Army, and hence the Administration, is convinced that the war in Vietnam was lost because public opinion back home was horrified by the sight of the coffins returning home, and if it hadn't been for that they could have won the war in just a few more years. Rubbish, but remember that the generals now at the top of the army were junior offices, all gung-ho and proud of their units, when they were pulled out of Vietnam. From *their* point of view, they saw their terrific units being pulled back from winning the war by those soft-spined civilians back home. They are not going to let that happen again. They told Rumsfeld and Cheney that, and R & C told Bush that, and Bush does what they say.
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George W. Bush is a cowardly bully, who used poppy's political clout to make sure he could drink and snort coke, but never, ever place his precious tush in harm's way. He has often reaffirmed his position that he wants to protect the privacy of the families involved, but what George W. Bush is actually protecting, however, is his own public image, the government wanted to keep the images from the public because it didn't reflect well politically on the current administration, and Americans have never seen any of the bodies returning from Iraq. In order to continue to sell an increasingly unpopular Iraqi invasion to the American people, President George W. Bush's administration sweeps the messy parts of war: the grieving families, the flag-draped coffins, the soldiers who have lost limbs, etc. into a far corner of the nation's attic, and the insult-to-injury here is that Bush does not attend the funerals of soldiers who gave their lives in his so-called 'war on terrorism'.
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The Pentagon and George Bush's "faith-based initiatives" have invoked the privacy of the soldiers’ families as their rationale for the ban. However, the coffins, anonymous, closed and draped in American flags, simply do not invade the privacy of anyone. No such harm is presented by flag-draped coffins of unidentifiable soldiers; no individual’s right to privacy is even at stake.
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Negative publicity is the likely answer. If there were scenes of the coalition and US troops bringing in insurgents by the truckload. Those pictures would be everywhere. As well as the rebuilding of schools, hospitals, neighborhoods. Flag draped caskets, doesn't really send the message that all is going well. The way the administration keeps attempting to convince everyone. I wish the troops the best of luck with the mission, whatever it is.
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Bush administration and the Pentagon imposed a strict blackout on media because such images carry power and can sway public opinion.
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