In his address on Tuesday, Barack Obama said, "For seven years we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price." Although he was talking about finally putting war expenditures into the federal budget, he has taken this to the human cost as well. Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a statement today reversing a Bush-era policy banning media coverage of the arrival of soldier’s coffins, giving families of the deceased the final say on the matter.

Photo: European Pressphoto Agency

With this change in policy, the painful truth and human cost of our war dead will confront citizens, who hopefully will demand more accountability and responsibility from those with the power to wage America’s wars.  The dead are coming home, and the government cannot hide them from us anymore. The story from CNN.