Obama Makes Good On Lifting Photo Ban On Military Coffins

With one stipulation, President Obama is responding to the demand that our country be able to see the human cost of war. His predecessor, who thrived on being secretive and blinding us to the realities of his decisions is gone and Obama is not only talking about change, but taking action. So what's that stipulation?

From MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to lift the ban on news organizations photographing the flag-draped caskets of U.S. war dead returning home, and will instead leave the decision entirely up to the families, Pentagon sources said Thursday.[...]

The emerging policy mirrors one at Arlington National Cemetery, in which families largely decide whether they want media coverage.

That's a compromise I can certainly live with. The subject is certainly a sensitive matter and the wishes of families of the fallen should be respected. Yet when it comes to war, it is important for the nation to see the consequences of it's leaders' decisions. Gates claimed he wanted to change it a year ago, but I suspect Bush had a hand in delaying that change.