Shooting War
Marine casualties, June 26, 2008 suicide bombing,Anbar Province, Iraq
--Zoriah Miller
__________________
The New York Times recently ran a piece on Zoriah Miller, a photographer who has been disembedded from a Marine unit after posting his photos of dead Marines on his web site (4,000 U.S. Deaths and a Handful of Images.) While he is still credentialed to work in Iraq, "several military officials acknowledged that no military unit would accept him." We ran one of his photos here.
Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine Corps commander in Iraq, objected to Miller's photos of the Marines killed in a June 26 suicide bombing and "is seeking to bar Miller from all United States military facilities throughout the world."
This sort of censorship is a far cry from the open reportage of WW II, Korea or Vietnam.
Don McCullin, a British war photographer who worked in Vietnam in the late 1960s and Iraq in 2003 believes that the "total access" that photographers had in Vietnam was critical to their success in reaching the public. McCullin said,
Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine Corps commander in Iraq, objected to Miller's photos of the Marines killed in a June 26 suicide bombing and "is seeking to bar Miller from all United States military facilities throughout the world."
"Miller said he spent three days on a remote Marine base editing his photos, which he then showed to the Company E marines. When they said they could not identify the dead marines, he believed he was within embed rules, which forbid showing identifiable soldiers killed in action before their families have been notified. According to records Mr. Miller provided, he posted his photos on his Web site the night of June 30, three days after the families had been notified."
This sort of censorship is a far cry from the open reportage of WW II, Korea or Vietnam.
Don McCullin, a British war photographer who worked in Vietnam in the late 1960s and Iraq in 2003 believes that the "total access" that photographers had in Vietnam was critical to their success in reaching the public. McCullin said,
"I was with the 5th Marines at Hue for two weeks . . . They took about 70 dead. I photographed the dead and wounded without any restrictions. They would not stand for it today. They treat you in these embeds like a dog on a leash."
These are not pretty pictures of healthy young Americans. They are not staged photo-ops, but they present an authentic picture of war. Why is the American public being treated to this sort of paternalism?
Labels: embedded photographers, suicide bombing photo, Third Marine Regiment in Garma, zoriah miller
posted by Lisa at 6:15 AM
9 Comments:
LOL RARAW PWN3D THE TROOPS
ra-ra,
Come on... writing at a junior high smart-ass level really doesn't do much for your glorious and holy cause.
Well, we can't have the folks at home getting restive over the deaths of Americans, now can we? After all, why ban casket shots if someone like the reporter shows (OMG!) bodies? Yeah, I make myself sick, too. And I see trolls wake up earlier than me....
guess the republicans and some others learned from the nightly coverage on tv of vietnam.
if you don't show the honest pictures ,most of us just don't bother thinking about the reality of it all.
part of the dumbing down of our country.
"Sherry" is right. For years (yes, even during that last "lie-war" - VietNam), I have wondered why the newspapers don't print pictures of "our guys" having been blown to bits or burnt to a crisp. (showing the picture of the burned Blackwater guys does not qualify in my mind".
Thank you for a great blog, you are providing a much needed service to the American public if they would only wake the fu** up and pay attention.
I agree, Ranger...see my post "True Cost of War" on 31 July. I also see honor in the way you allow all folks a voice on your blog...even your detractors.
Y'all have a good weekend.
Peace, joy and liberty...The Mad Celt
"The Mad Celt's Liberty Blog"
(http://dracocelt2.blogspot.com/)
Anybody know whatever happened to Kevin Sites, the fellow that videoed the American soldier shooting that wounded Iraqi in the mosque. I think it was in one of the battles of Fallujah. I don't think he's been working for the military since.
No pictures or TV coverage of dead or wounded American soldiers. None of returning caskets. No draft. America might not have learned anything from the Viet Nam war but this administration sure did.
Canadian TV regularly shows the honor guard carrying the caskets of their dead soldiers from Afghanistan. The media covers each and every death. Granted, they don't have anywhere near the numbers of deaths that the US does but then I doubt that Canadians would tolerate that high a casualty rate either.
Mad Celt, this was LISA'S essay but i will jump in. We don't mind people that oppose our viewpoints b/c that's the nature of dialog.(yes Lisa, i understand dialog). But that is not the yardstick here- we are being abused and personally attacked with no constructive purpose evident.this is not freedom - it's insanity and a violation of law and rules of civil behavior.
.Now back to topic-beauty or the lack there of is in the eye of the beholder.In ww2 pics of US dead were banned in the beginning but were allowed later in the war.This is given as backdrop-In Korea theres some Duncan photos burned on my brain and they were of living suffering marines in the midst of hell. One was of Ike Fenton Cpt/USMC and his 1000 yd. stare. The other is of a L/CPL ammo humper being told there was no more ammo to send up the hill, AND THERE ARE TEARS IN HIS EXHAUSTED EYES.Anyway he goes back up the hill w/o any resupply and is shortly thereafter killed in action.To me this says it all.One simple picture of one Marine- and i always remember it clearly. This is what scares the people trying to keep us in the dark. jim
tw, the incident that you discuss is interesting.not only was the iraqi shot and killed but this happened about 24 hours after he had been wounded. during this time nobody administered medical care to him although the rules of war demand treatment .we ignore the entire ball of wax. jim
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