Photographing Iraq war fallen shows the full costs of war

TIME has come to rescind the Pentagon policy barring media from photographing the return to the United States of troops killed in Iraq.

President Obama raised the matter in a news conference earlier this week. In response, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a review of the policy, saying he believes there may be better ways to protect the privacy of service personnel and their families.

There are better ways, particularly because the 1991 ban put in place by President George H.W. Bush was never about privacy considerations. It was always a transparent effort to hide the human costs of war.

This war was unnecessary, ill-conceived and poorly carried out. On Thursday, the death toll was 4,244. Yet, the public has seen few images of the parade of flag-draped coffins unloaded regularly from C-17s at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware — the destination for most military bodies.

That is unfortunate.

Fallen U.S. troops don't deserve to be hidden in the dark; they ought to be returned in the light of day to full honor guards and the public's gratitude.

Efforts to thwart the media in its obligation to cover the full scope of the war in Iraq has lingered from the first Bush administration to the tenure just ended by George W. Bush. Over the years, the media have found ways to challenge the ban.

"Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel's 2004 recitation of the names of the then-721 dead comes to mind. "The NewsHour" with Jim Lehrer stands out for its silent photo montages of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, complete with their name, age, rank and hometown.

One of the rare occasions the American public had to see the war's human toll came courtesy of a Web site, The Memory Hole (www.thememoryhole.org), which filed a Freedom of Information Act request several years ago and received 361 pictures of coffins unloaded at the Dover base. The Defense Department later reversed the decision, but it was too late.

End the policy of hiding the dead. Families of the fallen soldiers can greet their loved ones and mourn and honor their sacrifice. Media coverage ensures the American public also sees, honors and mourns those who sacrificed.