Associated press photo of dying marine

On August 14th U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Joshua was injured in Afghanistan, and died in the hospital. The AP recently published a photo of a dying Marine in Afghanistan. On 4th September the Defense Secretary Robert Gates condemned the Associated Press decision to liberate a photograph of the US marine Lance who was wounded at the battle of Helmed in the southern Afghanistan. He called an "appalling" lack of compassion.

At issue once again is the role of the media in wartime: the DoD obviously doesn't want images like this to go public: Gates sites the family's sensitivity, but the military element of the "war on terror" is noticeably light on photos of the human costs of war. Actually, that was the name of the editorial piece as published by the Wheeler Intelligencer in defense of publishing the work; Recognizing the Costs of War.