News organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America's war dead under a new Pentagon policy, defense and congressional officials said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to allow photos of flag-draped caskets at Dover Air Force Base, Del., if the families of the fallen troops agree, the officials told The Associated Press.
Gates planned to announce his decision later Thursday, they said. The current ban was put in place in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.
Some critics have contended the government was trying to hide the human cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But a spokeswoman for a military family group said the group was disappointed in the policy change. "This is a complete disregard for the will of America's military families and the need for their privacy during this solemn moment," said Meghan Tisinger, spokeswoman for Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.