[Leica] covering the news....

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Jul 26, 2008, at 3:23 PM, Ric Carter wrote:

> Phillip--
>
> You are absolutely right on all counts.
>
> The thing that worries many of us is that the concerns you have are  
> not at the center of the problem here. We see  an administration  
> that is attempting to slant coverage for domestic political purposes  
> so that America does not see the cost of this war.
>
> Hell, we even had a Secretary of Defense who so little valued the  
> lives of our military, he didn't even bother to sign letters to  
> survivors -- he used a machine to do it.
>
> Our country should be reminded of the sacrifice that is being made  
> here.


I would argue that purely out of the deepest respect for our soldiers,  
the price they/we are paying there should be respectfully covered...

rather than being systematically hidden from view.


Steve



>
>
> Ric
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 26, 2008, at 5:50 PM, Philip Forrest wrote:
>
>> I could have taken photos of lots of dead Marines. That could have  
>> been
>> considered part of my job. I didn't want to though. I didn't want to
>> photograph a lot of what I did, but it was my job. I lost enough
>> friends out in Iraq that I didn't need to capture that memory  
>> forever.
>> I'll have it forever. I respect the men and women who've died. Their
>> war is over and there is nothing but peace for them now. Us who
>> survived have the hard battle to deal with. Memory.
>> There are a few things I agree with on the DoD side, and a few  
>> things I
>> agree with on the journalist side. If he did indeed break some
>> protocol, then he deserved to get kicked out. Were he military, he'd
>> have been tried at a courts martial possibly. On the security side, I
>> completely understand the DoD point of view. The enemy is extremely
>> smart and if they can use any intelligence gathered from the internet
>> to find a weak spot in our tactics, then again, the journalist is in
>> the wrong. I DO believe that there should be more imagery coming  
>> out of
>> Iraq and Afghanistan, but not if it endangers my comrades.
>>
>> Further, this war CANNOT be compared to Vietnam in regard to imagery
>> and journalism. There was no way for the enemy to use photos such as
>> these in a timely fashion since most film was sent back to the
>> publication it was shot for, then developed, then edited, and then
>> possibly used for publication. We all have access to the means of
>> production now. Remember Nick Berg and the many beheadings which were
>> seen on the internet during 2004 alone. The internet is free
>> information, pure and simple and it's quite easy to do a little
>> snooping to find out who got bombed, where, when, how and possibly  
>> what
>> tactics were used. Blogs are a product of our egos. Now that we can
>> take a digital photo of a dead Marine then post it on the internet  
>> soon
>> afterwards, we do so in order to get attention. A kind of "look at  
>> me!
>> look at me! Look what I made! I risked MY life to take this photo of
>> this guy who GAVE his life for it, all for you! Pay attention to me!"
>> This is what I think of exploitative bloggers. There is a time and a
>> place for showing our dead. It's after the family has done their
>> grieving. After we have paid our respects to our fallen friends.  
>> After
>> the security environment surrounding the death has changed enough  
>> that
>> it can't be exploited to hurt us. Until then, take the photos and  
>> just
>> keep them for the future. War hasn't changed at all in all of
>> history. We all are wounded and all die the same way. The photos
>> can wait for a while, they'll still have plenty of impact later on.
>> Maybe put the camera down once in a while and hold the hand of that
>> Marine who is bleeding out.
>>
>> Phil Forrest
>>
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>
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