It started with the AP deciding to run with a photo despite being asked not to by the family:

Shame on the selfish Associated Press. Shame.

Via Politico, AP defies common decency for the Greater Good (hat tip – Blackfive):

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.”

The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.

The AP reported in a story that it decided to make the image public anyway because it “conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.”

…

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has caused his family. Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me. 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. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency.”

Contact the Associated Press:

Email: info@ap.org
Headquarters

450 W. 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001

Main Number
+1-212-621-1500

Now, HuffPo has decided to pile on:

Huffington Post exploits AP’s dying Marine photo

What’s more shameless than the Associated Press defying the wishes of a dying Marine’s family and splashing his bloody body all over the wires?

Why, the Huffington Post reprinting a massively large version of the image on its front page with an accompanying blog commentary praising the AP photographer’s work as “tasteful” — along with thousands of comments praising the decision and calling for even more bloody US troop photos to be published.

***

And no, I’m not done with the AP yet. Blogger Ztower points out that the AP refused to reprint the Mohammed Cartoons because they were “offensive”
, but has no problem offending a dead Marine’s family for the Greater Journalistic Good of ginning up anti-war sentiment.

Slimeballs.

No wonder the American Legion is pissed, as is Hot Air:

The American Legion has issued a blistering statement about the Associated Press decision to publish a photo of a dying Marine over the objections of the Marine’s family. I received this directly from the Legion earlier this afternoon:

“Outrageously irresponsible,” is how the leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization characterized the Associated Press’s decision to release a photo of a dying U.S. Marine taken in Afghanistan.

“The lack of compassion and common decency shown by the Associated Press in releasing this photograph is stunning,” said American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill, a retired Navy captain. “Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard is a hero who gave his life for his country. His family is understandably offended. I have asked the American Legion state commander in Maine to reach out to his family. Indeed everybody in The American Legion stands with his family.”

…

“Secretary Gates was right,” Hill added. “The issue is judgment and common decency. There is some information, some actions that occur, that are simply too private, too personal, and too tragic to be intentionally broadcast into the homes of millions. For families with loved ones overseas, the fear of what might happen to them is a near constant companion. This photo not only keeps open the wounds of war for the Bernard family, but it also increases the fear for the families of those who are still facing the reality of sudden death every day.”

Hill called for a review by the Department of Defense of the rules governing embedded media. “This should never have occurred in the first place, nor should it be allowed to occur again,” Hill said. “Ironically, when I visited Camp Delta at Guantanamo, the photographer was prohibited from taking images showing the faces of detained terrorists. Yet, photographers are allowed to shoot photographs of fallen American heroes? Where is the common sense? Where is the common decency?”

I’m not sure I can put this any better, although I recommend reading Mudville Gazette’s take on the matter. Politico has a comprehensive report about the Pentagon’s outrage, and it should be noted that Politico did not run the picture with the story:

The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published. The AP reported in a story that it decided to make the image public anyway because it “conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.” …

Gates wrote to Thomas Curley, AP’s president and chief executive officer. “Out of respect for his family’s wishes, I ask you in the strongest of terms to reconsider your decision. I do not make this request lightly. In one of my first public statements as Secretary of Defense, I stated that the media should not be treated as the enemy, and made it a point to thank journalists for revealing problems that need to be fixed – as was the case with Walter Reed.”

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has caused his family. Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me. 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. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency.”

I’m not sure which is more despicable — the decision to run the photo, or their self-serving claptrap afterwards about honoring the service of men and women in the war by exploiting their death. It demonstrates truly warped thinking and values. The AP should apologize immediately and withdraw the image, although that would probably not stop its dissemination now.

Nope.  It is too late.  All efforts to stop this and show the family respect will just cause it to go even more viral.  Liberals don’t care.  What is a family’s pain compared to exposing war?

Sick.

Would they have posted a picture of Ted Kennedy’s dying breaths?  I doubt it…

I give Sister Toldjah the last word:

What horsecrap. This is the same news organization that felt it was their “journalistic duty” to publish what eventually came to be Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs of terrorists murdering, among other innocents, election workers in Iraq. The AP admitted that for at least one photo, the photographer was “tipped off” by the terrorists as to what was going to take place (background info here). A member of the same AP Pulitzer-winning photography team was stringer Bilal Hussein, who was and is still suspected of having ties to AQ in Iraq. Charges against him in an Iraqi courtroom were dropped and he was eventually released from an Iraqi prison, but the questions and suspicions about his loyalties – and whether or not he aided the ‘insurgency’ in Iraq – still remain.

So, no, the AP can take their invocation of their so-called “journalistic duty” and shove it. We all know what their “journalistic duty” is all about, and it certainly isn’t to “show the reality of war” but instead to weaken the American public’s resolve to fight it. Just like they did with Iraq, and are now doing in Afghanistan.