Associated Press Exploits Dying Marine

Sensationalism trumps ethics once again in the Associated Press this week, when a graphic photograph of a fatally wounded young marine, in the last few moments of his life, was published on the front page of several American newspapers. The 21-year-old, Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, died just moments after the picture was snapped, he's shown bleeding from his fatal wounds as he's attended by his fellow Marines in a futile attempt to save his life. The picture is disturbing on many levels, but perhaps the most unsettling is how the death of one of our heroes is being exploited to sensationalize the war.

US. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, expressed his outrage at the publication of this photo, and rightly so. The Bernard family stated they did not want the photo published, for completely understandable and justified reason, but the AP published anyway. I cannot fathom how devastating it must be for the Bernard family to see pictures of their son curled in the mud, suffering through the final moments of his life, strewn across the front pages of newspapers. Defense Secretary Gates expressed a similar sentiment in addressing the AP, "Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling." Thank God the White House didn't let this unacceptable and blatantly disrespectful incident slide. The AP Director of PHotography, Santiago Lyon, responded saying, the Associated Press felt it was their "journalistic duty to show the reality of war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is." Needless to say, the agenda behind the exploitation of such a sensitive photograph is clear; to use the death of one of our brave Marines to disseminate anti-war propaganda. My heart goes out to the Bernard family, for this additional suffering in a time of inconceivable loss, and in appreciation for their sacrifice and the service of their heroic son.