Don't Let Washington Hide the Human Cost of Its Wars!

Since losing the media war in Vietnam, the United States has been very keen not to repeat the mistakes they made in the past.  By allowing virtually unrestricted media access to the battlefields in Southeast Asia, the raw brutality of war, along with the human cost in lives, was broadcasted night after night to a horrified American public.  As images of dead and dying American boys, many of which were fresh out of high school, filled the airwaves and newspapers, public support for the war began to wane.  The publicizing of war atrocities committed by American troops such as the My Lai Massacre, where over three hundred unarmed civilians, mostly women, children, and the elderly, were brutally killed by vengeful American troops, further drew opposition to the US presence in Vietnam.  As a result of the widespread unpopularity of our involvement in Southeast Asia and public pressure on politicians, it is said that the war was lost at home much sooner than it was lost in the jungles of Vietnam. 

Learning from our past mistakes, George W. Bush, utilized media manipulation and strategic ambiguity to hide the human cost of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Media access to the battlefield has been limited to embedded journalists who must be accompanied by military personnel at all times.  Prior to the media arriving, the scene of a battle is usually sanitized by the military to suggest that minimal US casualties have occurred, and that the operation was executed with surgical precision. Propaganda directed towards the American people has been disseminated unquestioned by the corporate media outlets, who more often than not, act in concert with the US government to shape public perception. Who can forget the unprecedented amount of media coverage the Jessica Lynch "rescue" received? I suppose a camera crew normally tags along on special forces operations, and draping an American flag across the chest of the person you just rescued is standard military procedure.  Or who can forget the iconic video of American forces toppling the statue of Saddam Hussein in front of what seems to be a packed plaza of cheering spectators.  However, a wide-angle shot of the same scene will reveal that there is only a small of group people (which many say was organized in large by the US Military) clustered together to give the impression of a packed event on a zoomed in camera. 

To further dehumanize the cost of war, George W. Bush banned all media coverage of the flag draped coffins of fallen US soldiers coming home from the Middle East, a policy that his father put into place during the first Gulf War, but since grew more relaxed until the new wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The new Obama administration has ordered a review of the policy, and it is up to us, the American voter, to let them know that the sacrifice that these brave men and women have made should not be hidden from the public and swept under the carpet.  These fallen heroes should receive the respect they so rightly deserve, and their sacrifice must be a reminder to everyone of not only of what this country represents, but also, the consequences of unchecked political power.  Don't let the achievements and memory of these brave souls be degraded by a cheap attempt by political forces to affect public perception by downplaying and hiding the human cost of war.  The human cost of war is something that should always be remembered and never forgotten.