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Funerals

• June 9 -- Casualties Rise, War Support Falling
Katharine Seelye covers the political import of governors attending funerals of soldiers from their home states: "In all cases, the governors are feeling their way, a delicate task as casualties rise and, polls show, support for the war falls." Predictably, the story works in criticism of Bush for failing to attend soldiers' funerals.

• April 15 -- Bringing the Dead Home, and to the Front Page
In a first, the Times front page features photos of soldiers' coffins from Iraq, accompanying a long profile of how grieving families feel about the war.

• April 2 -- Terror Reactions: "Upbeat" Bush, Somber Clinton
David Sanger writes: "It can be a bit jarring to move from the images of grisly American deaths to the invariably upbeat message of the Bush campaign…The contrast with some of his predecessors is notable….when American soldiers were killed in Somalia in an incident that many recalled on seeing the Falluja photographs, President Clinton declared that he was sending reinforcements." One contrast Sanger failed to mention--Clinton never visited the WTC after the 1993 terror attack.

• January 2 -- Saddam's Capture: OK, But What About Those Funerals?
Editor Richard Berke puts the best anti-Bush spin on the good news out of Iraq: "But before Saddam was caught, not long ago, we were talking about casualties. We were talking about a situation where the president did not want to go to the funerals of a lot of the--the--the killed soldiers in Iraq, because why bring attention to the tragedy of--that was going on day after day there."

• December 1 -- Bush in Baghdad: OK, But What About Those Funerals?
Adam Nagourney tosses cold water on Bush's Thanksgiving appearance in Baghdad: "The trip came at a time of rising criticism of the president for not attending the funerals of the returning war dead." Criticism driven by the Times itself.