By: E&P Staff The controversy over news photographs of flag-draped caskets returning from Iraq reached the U.S. Senate on Monday, where the Republican-controlled body beat back a Democratic measure to instruct the Pentagon to allow the pictures.
One of two Republicans voting for the measure was Sen. John McCain, who said, "I think we ought to know the casualties of war." The other GOP backer was Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. The measure failed 54-39.
President Bush has said that the policy banning the photos protects the privacy of the families of the dead, but McCain pointed out that the caskets arriving in the U.S. at Dover, Del., "are not named."
Republican senators charged the Democrats with promoting an election year stunt, noting that the policy had been in effect since 1991. Some Democrats said that President Clinton had been flexible on the policy, taking part in many ceremonies honoring dead military personnel.
The measure was sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. "A majority of the Senate are now working on behalf of the president to conceal from the American people the true costs of this war," he said after the vote.
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