Gates Assails News Agency for Publishing Photo of Marine Killed in Afghanistan.

A furious Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has upbraided The Associated Press for its decision to go against the wishes of a young Marine's family and publish a photograph of him after he was killed in Afghanistan. In a scathing letter to Tom Curley, president and chief executive of The A.P., Mr. Gates said that the news agency's decision was ''appalling'' and that the issue was one not of constitutionality but of ''judgment and common decency.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]