Gates Orders Review of Ban on Photos of Military Coffins

Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a review Tuesday of a Pentagon policy banning media coverage of U.S. military dead returning to Dover Air Force Base in coffins.

Following statements by President Obama in his first prime-time news conference Monday night, Gates said it makes sense to review whether the media should be allowed to watch as soldiers are brought back from overseas.

"I have asked that we review it again, in response to the president's interest and the president's statements," he said, adding that he has imposed a tight deadline on the review.

The government has strictly enforced the ban on media coverage of the return of U.S. military dead since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many in the media suggest images of the flag-draped coffins of fallen soldiers are a stark reminder of the human cost of war.

At least two Democratic senators have called on Obama to let news photographers attend ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and other military facilities when military remains are returned to the United States.

"If the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates told reporters at a Pentagon news conference Tuesday. "So I'm pretty open to whatever the results of this review may be."

Gates said he initially asked for the ban to be reviewed a year ago and was advised then that family members might feel uncomfortable with opening the ceremonies to media for privacy reasons or pressure to attend them despite financial costs.

In addition to that, he said media coverage could also delay the time it takes for the remains to return all the way home.

Shortly after Obama took office, Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey also asked the White House to roll back the ban that was put in place in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.

However, some exceptions to the policy were made, allowing the media to photograph coffins in some cases, until the administration of President George W. Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a Feb. 9 letter to Obama, Lautenberg said the Pentagon should develop a new policy to allow "respectful" media coverage while protecting the privacy of the victims and their families. Generally, the remains in the caskets are not publicly identified.

"I respectfully urge you to work to bring an end to the misguided policies of the past that seek to hide the sacrifice of our soldiers and the public recognition and pride that should accompany it," Lautenberg wrote.

He said the Bush administration "effectively censored images of flag-draped caskets from appearing in media coverage."

A leading military families group says the policy, enforced without exception during the Bush administration, should let survivors of the dead decide whether photographers can record their return.

John Ellsworth, president of Military Families United who lost a son in Iraq in 2004, said the survivors should be able to decide whether the coffins should be photographed.

"We don't necessarily think it should be banned. I think they could modify it to give a little latitude to the families," Ellsworth said several weeks ago. "Some people want to celebrate the lives of their fallen, and share their fallen hero with the American people, while others want to hold them a little closer to the vest and keep it private. We should respect that.

"It shouldn't be up to the government to hide these images to the public," he said. "But at the same time, I don't know that we can allow the press to overstep the bounds of good taste in some of these instances."

FOX News' Justin Fishel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.