Gates mulls lifting coffin photo ban

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he may be willing to reconsider a ban on the photographing of slain soliders' flag-draped coffins.

Gates said Tuesday that he was ordering a review of the military policy that bars photographers from taking pictures of the return of the coffins, most of which go through Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, The New York Times reported.

"If the needs of the families can be met and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates told reporters in Washington.

The policy was put into place in 1991 and has been renewed several times, most recently by the Bush administration a year ago. That's when Gates raised the possibility of changing the policy, he said, but was told by unnamed administration officials that allowing photographers would put undue pressure on families to go to Dover themselves, the Times reported.

Critics say the coffin-photo ban is a political ploy meant to sanitize the unpopular Iraq war.