The photo says a lot. Taken by Julie Jacobson of the Associated Press, it was published in numerous newspapers despite personal pleas from the US Defense Secretary to the CEO of the AP, as well as a plea from the father of the dead soldier - Lance Cpl Joshua Bernard, age 21 - not to release the photo. Apparently, among the reasons cited are that the photo should be withheld out of "common decency" to the dead man's family.
My biggest problem with this argument? Let's see - a picture of a dead US soldier published is oh-so-appalling. Meanwhile, papers everywhere publish pictures of dead Iraqi and Afghan civilians and nobody gives one shit about "common decency" nor does anybody care about what their families might feel or think.
It's not about common decency. It's about showing the reality of wars. People die. Including nice, clean-cut soldiers fighting for the supposedly "good" side, and lowly civilians caught in between. All this hypocritical crap about "common decency" makes me want to vomit.
Reminds me of how when Hurricane Katrina hit the US, some newspapers called it "our tsunami!", comparing it to the 2004 tsunami.
Well, pardonnez moi - 1,836 fatalities with 705 missing hardly can be compared to the 300,000 lives that were lost. Unless, of course, some lives are worth more than others.
Just in case this photo ends up in the collective amnesia that often overtakes a society in denial, I'm putting it up here. Hate me all you like, I don't care.
