Gates: AP Lacks Compassion For Using Photo Of Wounded Marine

Washington, D.C. (AHN) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday called the Associated Press as lacking in compassion for circulating the photo of a wounded Marine in Afghanistan against the wishes of the soldier’s family.

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Joshua M. 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 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 Department of Defense’s website and Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell quoted Gates as saying in the letter to AP.

Bernard’s family in New Portland, Maine had asked the news agency not to run the photo of the wounded soldier taken on Aug. 14 by an embedded reporter.

The AP defended its decision to distribute the photo to its newspaper clients. In a posted statement on its website, AP said it wanted to show how war is grim and how young people involved in it sacrifice their lives.

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