To: LindyBill who wrote (42609 ) 5/6/2004 6:32:56 PM From: Sully- Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 793778 Victor will post a response to readers' questions daily. Victor Davis Hanson Is the ban on pictures of coffins by the press a new policy? Does it compare with any past wartime policy? Xerxes tried to hide his dead after Thermopylae, and war losses historically have been used for and against continuing the struggle. I think that the policy really is supported by the families and not simply a Pentagon conspiracy. When Ted Koppel omitted reading the Afghan theater dead, timed his commemoration to coincide with the anniversary of Bush’s carrier landing, went on Air America to advertise his Nightline special, and used his editorial time to harp about himself—one received the impression that the self-proclaimed moralist was not so moral. Europeans seem to hate America more ever and would in fact like to see us hurt badly, which is in line with what Islamic radicals want. Could you comment on such political trends and what we might expect if you believe this shift becomes more divisive? Cry the beloved continent. Let us hope they wake up at the 11th hour, and see that America for 50 years has protected them, ensured their democratic rebirth, and stopped every –ism of the twentieth-century that all seem to have started in Europe. I just got back again from there, and found once more the anti-Bush creed baffling. It is a parlor game for affluent Europeans, whose defense is underwritten by others, whose modern history is inseparable without Americans, and who face greater dangers than we do from the Islamicists—who hate them even more for being weak in addition to being Western.victorhanson.com