Cnn is reporting that:
The Pentagon will lift its longtime ban on media coverage of the flag-draped coffins of war victims arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, according to a senior U.S. defense official with direct knowledge of the decision.
CNN Story
This comes with the caveat that the coverage must be approved by the victims' families.
Fair enough. All I can say is it is about damn time the rest of America was made aware of the ongoing loss of our soldiers lives and the tragedy their families must face everyday. After seven years of hiding their deaths from the publics eye, sneaking them in under the cover of darkness, finally we can welcome them home with the honor and dignity they deserve. Fuck you George Bush. Fuck you Dick Cheney. It is beyond time these brave men and women were given the respect they died for. While it is a somber moment to be sure, at least the truth will now be visible. The realities of war and the resulting broken bodies of our fighting men and women are not a thing to be hidden away from the harsh light of truth.
Let us never forget the cost of war, especially a war that did not need to be waged.
I am proud of the people here who have maintained a vigil honoring these fine folks with the IGTNT series.
Many others including myself have written numerous essays about veterans and the issues they face upon returning home. The more people who become aware of the costs of war and the people that it destroys, the less likely we will be to engage in the barbaric practice. Let us hope this is just one more step in the right direction towards transparency and truth.
I apologize for the short diary, I have a few things I must attend to.
Peace.
I'll end this with something I wrote some time ago.
To the makers of war:
There is no glory in the violence we choose to inflict upon other human beings.
There is no justice for the victims of our collective hate. There is only the suffering of the many made possible by the decisions of a few. Do not come to me with open arms or begging bowl when the alliance you seek is one of kinship or dispensation for your brutality. I am not your brother or your keeper.
You who walk on marbled floors behind the gates that keep you isolated from the realities of your decisions
to kill with impunity and destroy the lives of innocents to feed your tortured egos and fill your swollen coffers, you who glorify the hatred you breed in the hearts of the ignorant, I accuse you.
You who profit from the fear that is beaten into the collective consciousness of the masses under the pretense of patriotism, of honor, of duty, of country. I accuse you.
You who defend the indefensible with your lies and omissions, who obscure the truth with your false commissions, who with turn of phrase, through bright shiny perfect teeth, smile and give permission to kill and to maim and to rape and to die blind and happy in the pursuit of all these things we hold self evident under the illusion of exceptionality and freedom I accuse you.