Illustration by Holly Randall

Last week, Tucsonan Russ Kick, proprietor of thememoryhole.org, obtained and published nearly 400 photos of the caskets of fallen soldiers returning from Iraq. The photos were released by the Air Force following a successful appeal under the Freedom of Information Act. However, many people, including government officials, protested the publication of the photos on grounds that they violate a 1991 law and disregard the privacy of the families of the dead. We asked our columnists, "Should the media be privy to photos of those killed in action?"

Susan Bonicillo Columnist

Photographs help the public understand sacrifice

War is hell. No matter how noble the cause for going into battle, in the end, war illustrates the great inhumanities of humanity.

The soldier alone must face these terrors, for it is he who has sworn to protect our nation. And the only appropriate response for the public is to pay tribute.

However, in order to properly honor our country's fallen sons and daughters, one must understand their situation. Without fully comprehending their ordeal, all forms of respect will essentially be bereft of any real grasp of their sacrifice.

Despite the many eloquent words spoken about this nation's dead, they simply cannot compare to the visual and emotional response created by a photograph.

Though one can read all the elegies and obituaries in memory of the dead, to actually see the casualties of war made tangible through photographs brings more to understanding the soldier's strife in a way that the written word cannot even begin to convey.

Honoring the dead means remembering their struggles. Photographs do a great deal to rid us of the romantic images of battle. They take away our pleasant yet hopelessly unaware view of the world and reveal war for what it is ÷ warts and all.

Susan Bonicillo is a sophomore majoring in English. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Daniel Scarpinato Columnist

Show the pictures

The military should be forthcoming with all information about the war, including these pictures.

Friday afternoon, Sen. John McCain addressed the controversy in front of Old Main while talking to reporters about border issues. He commented on the importance of the public seeing those pictures in order to fully understand the war and appreciate the service of the men and women in the military.

He couldn't be more right. War is a tragedy, and we need to be reminded of that.

But either way, the pictures should be shown because their illustrations are one of the realities of war.

Showing them to make people turn against the war in Iraq or hiding them to blind Americans to the realities are sneaky ways of playing politics with the lives of fallen men and women.

Plus, Americans have shown they're more steadfast than that. We will see the job out in Iraq. It's up to us to decide who has a better plan to get the job done ÷ Sen. John Kerry or President Bush. However, Americans will not flake out of a moral obligation in Iraq when pictures such as these are released.

Mistakes were made selling the war, moving into Iraq and declaring victory over the Iraqis too soon. But to claim that the soldiers died in vain or that the world is not better off now than before would be disingenuous.

Daniel Scarpinato is editor of The Desert Yearbook and a journalism and political science senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Tim Belshe Columnist

Must be a slow news day

There must not be much going on lately if this is the first thing on everyone's minds.

Don't get me wrong; this issue is definitely not to be taken lightly. But let's face it. This is mostly a chance for the left to take a pot shot at the president.

Let's keep a few things in mind. First, there is a legitimate reason for not releasing the photographs of returning caskets. Despite your opinions on any military action the United States is involved in, I'm sure we can all come together and agree that the dead should not be used for political purposes. And even though the left will claim that's exactly what the president is doing, can you honestly say releasing the pictures is the best way to keep people from abusing them?

Second, let's not forget this policy is nothing new. It's been around since 1991, which means it was in place through the entirety of the Clinton administration, including his numerous military actions. I could be wrong, but I don't remember a huge backlash when the press couldn't cover the return of soldiers' remains in the Î90s.

The fact is, there are plenty of other things we could be worrying about. We should stop mulling this over and let those soldiers rest in peace.

Tim Belshe is a systems engineering junior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Aaron Okin Columnist

Releasing the photos correct legally, but too easily subject to manipulation

Legally, I suppose it was right for the government to release the photographs. It's not surprising the individual who runs the Web site thememoryhole.org managed to secure the photographs under the Freedom of Information Act, but that doesn't mean it was necessarily the best thing that could happen. Setting up a Web site that shows page after page of flag-draped coffins seems to be in pretty poor taste ÷ everyone knows people are being killed in Iraq and that when soldiers are killed, their bodies are transported back.

Thankfully, Russ Kick, the founder of the site, was unable to get the names and personal information affiliated with the individual caskets, otherwise his ploy likely would have gone further to the point: that the families of fallen soldiers would have to deal with having their family members publicly identified without their consent. Unfortunately, though, the lack of titling allowed for Kick to manipulate viewers of the site into thinking there were more photos of war dead than there were ÷ an entire page, with dozens of photos, were of the bodies of those killed when Columbia exploded in February 2003. Major news outlets were circulating these photos as soldiers killed in Iraq and countless citizens were duped as a result.

Too bad Kick, who was clever enough to get the photos, wasn't responsible enough to handle them properly.

Aaron Okin is a regional development and political science junior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Brett Berry Columnist

Photos serve as a reminder of costs of war

Last week, the Pentagon and the administration had to face more questioning of their policies in the war on terror. This time, it was in regard to their policy about withholding photographs of the caskets of dead soldiers returning to America.

Though now released under the Freedom of Information Act, the reluctant release of the pictures reveals quite a bit about how the Pentagon and Bush administration try to manipulate the American public.

The defense for this policy has always been, and still is for the administration, that "we should always honor and show respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms." Quite true.

But isn't showing the respect and honor that the bodies of our fallen soldiers get seen as they return home doing just that? Doesn't seeing these pictures make you realize the gravity of the sacrifices our soldiers make? Releasing the photos to the public is in no way an exploitation or disrespect to the soldiers or to their families; it's quite the opposite. It honors them. The only real reason to withhold these photographs is that they do in fact serve as a reminder of what the costs of war truly are. The number "723" doesn't really hit you until you actually see it manifested in rows of caskets. Most of us Americans know nothing of the true horrors of war. The closest thing we have seen to war on our soil was the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. We have not been witness to a real and lasting war like the rest of the world, so we are much more willing to go to war rashly.

The real reason why the Pentagon and Bush (who coincidentally has attended zero funerals for those dead) don't want us to see these pictures is that it will make us realize we should not have treaded into deadly waters of war so lightly.

Brett Berry is a regional development sophomore who hopes that all U.S. soldiers can return home safely. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Sabrina Noble Columnist

We must be witnesses

First, a summary: Russ Kick filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get photographs of the returning American dead. Air Force officials denied the request, but quickly changed their minds when Kick appealed their decision. Then Kick took the photographs ÷ more than 350 of them ÷ and posted them for the world to see.

But wait; we've left something out: Before any of this loud controversy came the disturbingly quiet deaths of American soldiers. Our people ÷ and quite a few of them ÷ are dying in Iraq. The photographs provided what the American people did not have before: graphic evidence that war is taking a very real toll. As casket after flag-draped casket came off the ships in Dover, Del., we had to reconcile distant casualty statistics with the concrete reality of death.

As Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington said, "This is not about privacy. This is about trying to keep the country from facing the reality of war."

These photographs aren't necessarily about protesting the war, but about witnessing it. These pictures must remind us of what we are deciding when we choose to go to war, and that once we make the decision, we must not turn away from its inevitable results. Rather, we need to remember that, though advanced technology and wide oceans make it seem like a surreal affair, war is very real.

We need to recognize that, as numerous as our star-spangled caskets were, the Iraqis deal with many more bodies every day. Even if we argue that our purpose is just, we have to face that it is taking lives.

And that, more than any political reason, is why we must witness the photographs.

Sabrina Noble is a senior majoring in English and creative writing. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.