I had a photography teacher who said that we should never take a photograph of anyone without asking the person's permission.

News photographers- in this case war photographers- like most commercial photographers are basically hacks. It is a field where the claim is to represent the emotions of others but without actually engaging the subjects in a conversation, or even giving them a choice. If I photograph a still life I can arrange the objects any way I like. The oranges don't mind where they sit; they tell the stories I want them to tell. A war photographer treats his subject as if they were inanimate objects, but claims -and this is the important part- to be describing not his reaction to what has occured, but theirs.
Think about that for a minute before you call me an asshole.